Cricket: Black Caps begin as champions

New Zealand are winners even before their Champions Trophy semifinal against Pakistan starts early tomorrow.

Dan Vettori's men have won the Spirit of Cricket accolade at the International Cricket Council awards in Johannesburg, given to the team who have best conducted themselves on the field. It is judged by the ICC's elite panel of umpires and match referees and the 10 captains of the full member nations.

Fittingly, the award is handed out this week, after Vettori gave England batsman Paul Collingwood a reprieve in their final group game when he was run out having carelessly left his ground before the over had been called.

Vettori, while delighted, has kept his eye on the ball.

"If we can couple the spirit of cricket award with the Champions Trophy, then we will be very happy indeed," he said.

Scott Styris became the latest belated arrival yesterday, turning up from India as cover for Grant Elliott, who chipped a bone in his right thumb against England. New Zealand have already lost Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey and Jesse Ryder from the original 15. All would have been first-choice selections for a game which must be won if New Zealand are to repeat their 2000 Champions Trophy triumph in Kenya.

The Wanderers ground has produced two contrasting pitches for the tournament. New Zealand rattled on 315 against Sri Lanka on an excellent pitch, then rolled England for 146 on one which was a shocker.

The semifinal will be played on the pitch used for the Sri Lankan game, so New Zealand's inclination will be to bat first, try to get plenty of runs and negate Pakistan's uncanny knack of making the ball talk late in the day.

Having them bat second tomorrow - assuming Vettori wins the toss - should help New Zealand on that score and, if they make a decent total, put the squeeze on Pakistan's batsmen.

Even though New Zealand are not at full strength, Vettori has issued a challenge to his team.

"It's about time we made a final," he said yesterday. "There is a lot of determination in the group when we come to these tournaments and there is an expectation of us as a one-day team.

"We have had a pretty good one-day team over the years. Now it is up to us to deliver a little bit more than that."

New Zealand's fast-medium bowlers, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills and Ian Butler, are in good form, but it is the batting department which might give rise to some jitters. Martin Guptill - named overnight in the world ODI XI of the year, reward for an outstanding maiden year of international cricket - is in good form, Brendon McCullum's pyrotechnics were crucial in the win over England, but New Zealand need runs from a so-far wobbly middle order. Ross Taylor and Neil Broom, in particular, will need to deliver.

History is littered with examples of Pakistan's ability to raise themselves in a heady manner on big occasions.

Most recently, they rose to the challenge in winning the world Twenty20 championship in England this year, beating New Zealand along the way.

Pakistan's star batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who has scored 9450 ODI runs - second only to Inzamam-ul-Haq among his countrymen - in 275 games, believes his team will be favourites, while praising the quality of New Zealand's fast-medium attack.

"We have fought and played well in all of our three games so far," Yousuf said.

"Our morale is high, but anything can happen in one-day cricket. If you consider the performances of both the sides, I think we have an upperhand."

The winner will play Australia or England in the final early on Tuesday (NZT).

The first semifinal is being played overnight at Centurion.

TROPHY SEMIFINAL

Johannesburg, from 1.30am tomorrow, live on SS1

New Zealand (from): Dan Vettori (c), Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Aaron Redmond, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott/Scott Styris, Neil Broom, James Franklin, Gareth Hopkins, Brendon Diamanti, Kyle Mills, Jeetan Patel, Iain O'Brien, Ian Butler, Shane Bond.

Pakistan (from): Younis Khan (c), Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Iftikhar Anjum, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amer, Umar Gul, Naved-ul-Hasan, Saeed Ajmal.

New Zealand v Pakistan

ODIs: P 78, NZ won 29, Pakistan won 47, one tie, one no result
At neutral venue: P 24, NZ won 6, Pakistan won 18