Mitchell Santner said New Zealand could not afford to take “dangerous” Pakistan lightly as they attempt to seal their place in the World Cup semi-finals in Birmingham today.
Unbeaten New Zealand have 11 points from five victories and a rained-off game while Pakistan must win to keep alive their chances of qualifying for the last four
“Obviously, they’ve had a pretty good record over here,” said the spinning all-rounder on the eve of the match at Edgbaston.
“They won the Champions Trophy a couple of years ago and they’ve come off a pretty good win against South Africa.”
“We’re at the top at the moment (before the England v Australia result), but we can’t take any games lightly.”
Santner praised Pakistan’s varied bowling attack.
“Their bowling attack on the whole is very good. They’ve got some very good seam bowlers as well as spin bowlers. We’re aware of their strengths, and I think Wahab (Riaz) back into their team is very good for them.”
“(Mohamed) Amir is bowling very well as well,” added Santner of the left-arm paceman, who has 15 wickets in five matches.
Santner said Pakistan, who have lost three matches at the World Cup so far, had the ability to raise their game despite their troubles.
“They took down England and took down South Africa the other day,” he said. “When they’re hot, they’re really hot. We have to, obviously, find ways of trying to cool them down when they’re like that.”
The left-handed batsman said skipper Kane Williamson was key to New Zealand’s batting strength.
“He’s coming off two hundreds, and the one against South Africa the other night was pretty special,” he said. “It didn’t look, I guess, as fluid, his innings, but that’s what made it so good.”

Stead confident openers can rediscover form
New Zealand coach Gary Stead is confident opening batsmen Martin Guptill and Colin Munro will rediscover their scoring touch as the Cricket World Cup reaches the knockout phase.
Guptill and Munro, in full flight, provide New Zealand with an explosive start but the pair have struggled in England, with Kane Williamson (373 runs at 186.5) and Ross Taylor (200 at 50) responsible for the bulk of the side’s runs.
The right-handed Guptill, the only New Zealander to have scored an ODI double century, has been dismissed for two golden ducks and his 133 runs in five innings are mostly courtesy of 73 not out against Sri Lanka in their opening match.
The majority of Munro’s 113 runs also came in the 10-wicket victory over Dimuth Karunaratne’s side when he scored 58 not out in Cardiff as he and Guptill chased down the 137 needed for victory in 16.1 overs.
“In any team you will have times when people don’t score runs. That’s the game of cricket,” Stead told reporters in Birmingham ahead of their clash with Pakistan.
“Martin and Colin have both done it for us on numerous occasions and I hope that their time will be the next game.
“If they come off it is going to make it easier for the likes for Kane and Rosco and the guys after them.”
While victory over Pakistan would confirm a spot in their eighth World Cup semi-final, Stead was wary of looking too far ahead and knows that while they top the table they could also finish outside the top four if things go against them.
“The team is in a good space,” he said, adding that tight wins over Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies would stand them in good stead.
“We have had three really close games and I guess that augurs well for when you get to finals time because you have been in those tight situations.
“We want to just keep playing the way we are at the moment.”