AS fluffy white clouds gathered against clear blue skies above the M.

Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday morning, Mohammad Rizwan was smashing every ball he could in the nets during Pakistan`s practice session.

Abdullah Shafique, meanwhile, was middling net bowlers to perfection as Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Saud Shakil exchanged the crease in the third net perhaps creating a scenario of a partnership.It was pleasantly cool at the venue, cooler than when Pakistan were last here, to play against Australia.

The temperatures on the field and in context of the World Cup, however, will be high on Saturday morning, when Pakistan clash with New Zealand.

The match will decide the direction of the tournament, which has seen India, South Africa and Australia all but book their places in the semi-finals.

The fourth place being up for grabs has blown life into the 50-over showpiece.

The credit for this to happen should be given to New Zealand, who have lost three matches in row after a flying start.

Next up for them is a team that has a history of bouncing back when cornered. Pakistan`s sevenwicket thrashing of Bangladesh on Tuesday gave them a flicker of hope before New Zealand`s 190-run hammering by South Africa 24 hours later gave them some control of their destiny.

`We`d got ourselves into a position before the Bangladesh game where it was kind of out of our hands and it`s come back in a funny way into our hands again because albeit we`ve got to win and win big in both our games, it`s still in our control, which it wasn`t before the Bangladesh game,` Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur told reporters during the pre-match press conference on Friday.

`We had obviously areally good result there.

And then South Africa did us a little bit of a favour as well. `So, it`s kind of pushed it back into our hands, albeit a long shot.

Pakistan finally clicked against Bangladesh amid a host of controversies emerging from the country`s cricket board`s offices back home. Their poor show in the preceding matches added up to the pressure but it has been handled calmly by the players.

`The one thing that amazes me, and it`s amazed me so much with the Pakistan players, is generally how calm they are, said Arthur. `You know, it`s like, Pm a cat on a hot tin roof, the players are just really calm.

`They kind of take it in their stride. And that`s the feeling I got before the Bangladesh game. And it`s certainly the feeling Pm getting right now. So, yeah, we`re in a decent place.

Arthur hoped Pakistan`s return to good form would end up in helping the team make the semis.`We found our best game against Bangladesh and I just hope that`s not too late for us,` he said. `I thought the Bangladesh game was the first game where we actually put a complete game together We batted beautifully, bowled beautifully, and fielded beautifully, which in all the other games, we`ve done one or two disciplines OK, but our other disciplines let us down.

SHADAB DOUBTFUL Pakistan are likely to be without all-rounder Shadab Khan for the second match in a row as the team`s vice-captain recovers from concussion.

The leg-spinner had an impact following a fall during Pakistan`s matchagainst South Africa in Chennai.

It was the third concussion case for Shadab in the last one year, which is why the team management is not in a hurry to bring him back into the side.

`Shadab went through a preliminary test today, which you`ve got to do as per medical protocol, Arthur said. `He came through that OK, but we`re in no position yet to make a decision on him. `Concussion is a really important injury, and we`ve got to be 100% sure before we make a decision.

New Zealand`s recent slump has occurred mainly due to injuries to their key players. Already without the full services of captain Kane Williamson, they are dealing with blows to pacer Matt Henry, batter Mark Chapman and another fast-bowler in Lockie Ferguson.

The side had scheduled fitness tests for the players but their training session was cut short by a short yet heavy downpour, which, according to theweather predictions, may well come into play during Saturday`s match.

The cutting edge SubAir drainage system installed under the stadium`s playing area, however, is known to be effective enough to get the ground ready for play within 15 minutes after the rain stops.

With things having turned against the 2019 World Cup finalists, their batter Daryl Mitchell said the players have their feet grounded.

`One thing we do as Kiwis is we stay pretty grounded,` he said. `We stay where our feet are, and injuries are things that we can`t control.

`All I know is that the 11 guys that will take the field tomorrow will be very proud to represent our country and get stuck in a World Cup.

The clash for Pakistan would be about winning by a certain margin to beat New Zealand on net runrate. For the latter though, Mitchell said, it will be just about two more points.

`... we won`t make it bigger than what it is, said the right-hander. `It`s another two points for this tournament, which is important for us in the big scheme of things, but we`ll just keep playing like Black Caps and Kiwis do, and I`m sure we`ll come a long way to winning the game.