Pakistan win the toss 2nd Semi Final

Toss Pakistan chose to bat v New Zealand

Pakistan welcomed back Imran Nazir and Mohammad Aamer, and Younis Khan won the toss and asked Nazir to pad up right away to make first use of a pitch that both captains thought good for batting. Nazir took Misbah-ul-Haq's place, and Aamer came in for Mohammad Asif.

Pakistan's formula in big matches has always been to bat first and get runs on the board, which they didn't deviate from, and they also have the bowling to defend slightly below-par totals too.

New Zealand received good news, too, in that Grant Elliott cleared the last-minute fitness test, and kept his place. In their must-win match against England, Elliot had taken four wickets before sustaining a hand injury.

This was the seventh time these teams were meeting in a tournament semi-final: Pakistan were 5 and 1 in the previous encounters.