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The BLACKCAPS are set to face Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy semi final in the early hours of Sunday morning (NZ time).
It’s been a well timed run to the semis for the BLACKCAPS who lost their opening match against South Africa but have built momentum with solid wins over Sri Lanka and England to finish top of Group B.
The BLACKCAPS are no strangers to semi-final cricket having reached the same stage at the ICC World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and the previous Champions Trophy in 2006, but will be hoping to go one better in this tournament.
A quietly confident Daniel Vettori said, “There’s a lot of determination in the group when we come to these tournaments - there is an expectation of us as a One-Day team and we’ve had a pretty good One-Day team over the years.
“That’s people’s expectation of us and now it’s up to us to deliver a little bit more.”
Pakistan finished second in their pool after beating India and West Indies but losing to Group A winners Australia.
Most pundits had written off the BLACKCAPS after their poor One-Day tournament in Sri Lanka and first up loss to South Africa but this is a team determined to turn things around.
"The one thing about this New Zealand side is that they're fighters and they fight for each other. They knew they had to stand up and each person had to contribute the best he could," said BLACKCAPS coach Andy Moles.
The match will be played at The Wanderers in Johannesburg - the ground where they have recorded both their wins. Play will start at 1:30am on Sunday 4th October (NZ time), (2:30pm on Saturday 3rd October, local time).
