Pakistan beat New Zealand, Pakistan won by 9 wickets (with 15 balls remaining)

and as expected Pakistan qualify for the 1999 World Cup final, a commanding performance. New Zealand get to hang around for the encore 4-Test match series

a huge crowd has gathered in front of the pavilion. Stay tuned and we'll have a summary of the presentations being fully drowned out by the crowd noise

Ravi Shastri is the MC, and don't the crowd just love him

Fleming gets a healthy boo as well. "we had a reasonable competitive total... Shoaib very quick... we thought we may have got them with the lack of pace (!).... we exceeded expectation for a lot of people [in terms of the tournament, not the match]"

Wasim: "reaching the final of the world cup is a great achievemnt...", he doesn't care who he plays in the final

Richie Benaud chooses Shoaib as the Man of the Match, not for his economy I assume. A pretty surprising choice over Saeed Anwar.

and then there were 3. Tomorrow is the second semi final, Australia v South Africa from Birmingham. As usual, 0945 GMT. Good night.

47.3

Astle to Saeed Anwar, 2 runs

edged in the air, Twose may get a catch at the long on, but no, the terrific fans, a credit to the human race, storm onto the field, Twose aborts going for the catch and instead seeks out some protection

47.2

Astle to Saeed Anwar, FOUR runs

slogged over the bowler's head, 2 to win

47.1

•

Astle to Saeed Anwar, no run

Over47

1 run

PAK 236/1CRR: 5.02 RRR: 2.00

Ijaz Ahmed 28 (21b 4x4 1x6)Saeed Anwar 107 (145b 8x4)

GI Allott0/41 (9)

46.6

•

Allott to Ijaz Ahmed, no run

another ripper of a ball, zips past the outside edge yet again, Allott may not get a chance to bowl another over

46.5

•

Allott to Ijaz Ahmed, no run

defending down the wicket, back to the bowler

46.4

•

Allott to Ijaz Ahmed, no run

moving away from the batsman and to the keeper

people running onto the pitch for some unknown reason

fans jumping over the fence, and squatting on the rope, security doesn't appear to give two hoots about it

a big delay it will be, my crowd's overfloweth!

I suspect there might be a pitch invasion at the conclusion of this match. Just call it a hunch.

game won't be restarting until all the crowd are packed back into their tin

this is fun

finally, play is about to continue after a 9 minute delay. Most of the crowd simply stared blankly and ignore the request to get back into the stands

46.3

•

Allott to Ijaz Ahmed, no run

and again past the outside edge, Allott finally pulling his finger out

46.2

•

Allott to Ijaz Ahmed, no run

zipping it past the outside the edge, Ijaz dabbing some defence at it

46.1

Allott to Saeed Anwar, 1 run

Allott brought back, and not a moment too soon

Over46

9 runs

PAK 235/1CRR: 5.10 RRR: 1.75

Ijaz Ahmed 28 (16b 4x4 1x6)Saeed Anwar 106 (144b 8x4)

NJ Astle0/35 (7)

45.6

Astle to Ijaz Ahmed, 2 runs

and there's another few runs, we're nearly there

45.5

Astle to Ijaz Ahmed, FOUR runs

typical horrid Ijaz shot, inside edge off an on drive, thru the keeper and to the fine leg boundary

45.4

•

Astle to Ijaz Ahmed, no run

45.3

Astle to Saeed Anwar, 1 run

I'm glued to the edge of my seat

45.2

Astle to Saeed Anwar, 2 runs

lifting it over the covers, this match is approaching a raptuous climax

45.1

•

Astle to Saeed Anwar, no run

Over45

8 runs

PAK 226/1CRR: 5.02 RRR: 3.20

Ijaz Ahmed 22 (13b 3x4 1x6)Saeed Anwar 103 (141b 8x4)

DJ Nash0/34 (5)

44.6

•

Nash to Ijaz Ahmed, no run

44.5

Nash to Ijaz Ahmed, FOUR runs

lifted over the mid wicket, Horne slides his bum alogn the rope, looks very comofrtable, then someone expect it not to be called 4, TV umpire adjudicates

44.4

Nash to Saeed Anwar, 1 run

44.3

•

Nash to Saeed Anwar, no run

44.2

Nash to Saeed Anwar, 2 runs

around the wicket, playing across the line and off the toes, saved from being a boundary in the deep

New Zealand vs Pakistan, 1st Semi-Final at Manchester, Jun 16 1999 - Match Result