Toss will play crucial role in semifinal: Younus

Karachi:

With the Wanderers pitch giving torrid times to sides batting first, Pakistan skipper Younus Khan feels toss will play an important role in their semifinal against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy on Saturday.

"The wanderers pitch has proved to be a nightmare for sides batting first. I think if the wicket plays the way it has been behaving so far, the toss could play an important role in the outcome of the semi," said Younus.

"It all depends on who wins the toss and what type of pitch we get for the match. The pitch provides assistance to bowlers and even facing the part-timers becomes all the more difficult.

"So it all depends on luck whoever wins the toss will also be favorite to win the match," he added.

However, Intikhab had a different take on the pitch and feels the pitch for the semi final would be a sporting track. "The semi final will be played on the same pitch that was used for the West Indies and India match. The track is void of grass and would be a sporting one provided the sky stays clear and weather remains bright," Intikhab told Pakistani newsmen in Johannesburg.

"I think it would be a much better surface than what we have witnessed during last week. Those pitches, where we saw teams scoring less than 150, were a bit wet. Now when there is enough time for the curators to roll out the surface, it would be a much improved surface," he added.