Cricket: O'Brien to join Black Caps for semifinal

Iain O'Brien has been called up as New Zealand's latest replacement for the knockout stage of the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Fast-medium bowler O'Brien will join New Zealand from the United Kingdom as a replacement for Daryl Tuffey, who broke a bone in a hand in the win over Sri Lanka in Johannesburg at the weekend.

O'Brien, who was in the touring party in Sri Lanka shortly before the Champions Trophy, follows opening batsman Aaron Redmond as a late callup. Redmond was whisked across to Johannesburg for the injured Jesse Ryder. Both will be in line for selection for the semifinal against Pakistan early on Sunday (NZ time).

Meanwhile, Coach Andy Moles hailed New Zealand's fighting spirit as they continued an impressive turnaround by beating England to finish top of their group.

However, the result in Johannesburg yesterday could come at a cost, with man-of-the-match Grant Elliott left nursing a hand injury.

South African-born Elliott, playing on his former home ground of the Wanderers, was hit on the right thumb while batting as New Zealand chased a target of 147 on a pitch with an uneven bounce.

Moles said Elliott's thumb was swollen, but it was too early to determine whether the player was in doubt for the semifinal.

After a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka and defeat to South Africa in their opening Champions Trophy match, the Black Caps' hopes of making the semifinals had seemed hopeless. But victory over Sri Lanka kept them alive and they sealed their berth by overtaking England's total with four wickets and almost 23 overs to spare.

Moles said the Black Caps knew they had to step up with the departures of Jacob Oram, Ryder and Tuffey through injury.

"The one thing about this New Zealand side is that they're fighters and they fight for each other," he said. "They knew they had to stand up and each person had to contribute the best he could."

Moles said the Black Caps had no preference over which opposition they faced in their semifinal in Johannesburg.

"We just have to make sure we play to the best of our ability," he said. "If we do that, it doesn't matter who we play."

New Zealand won the toss and, after sending England into bat, got off to a flying start, with Kyle Mills removing opposition skipper Andrew Strauss without a run on the board.

Shane Bond then chimed in with the wickets of Joe Denly and Owais Shah to send England slumping to 13 for three.

"It was an important toss to win and it was important to take advantage of that," Moles said.

"Kyle bowled beautifully in the first over to get rid of Strauss and then Bondy made sure we kept them under pressure."

Paul Collingwood provided England's main resistance with 40.

He was also at the centre of a major talking point when, on 14, he was recalled by New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori after being given out.

Believing the over had been called, Collingwood wandered out of his crease after evading a short-pitched delivery from Mills and wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum threw down the stumps.

TV umpire Aleem Dar confirmed the dismissal, but Vettori, after conferring with on-field umpires Daryl Harper and Asad Rauf, withdrew the appeal for a run-out. The irony was that Collingwood had been involved in a run-out controversy at The Oval last year, when he refused to recall Elliott, who had collided with Ryan Sidebottom.

Elliott did have the final say yesterday, with Collingwood being one of his victims.

In his first significant bowling stint of the tournament, Elliott got over a shaky start to grab career-best figures of four for 31 with his medium pacers.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA