Pakistan eye semi-finals, Ponting remains defiant

Pakistan's cricketers, dismissed as an indisciplined rabble before the World Cup, eyed a place in the semi-finals on Wednesday while Ricky Ponting defiantly stood his ground as Australia captain.

Pakistan, the 1992 champions, have been one of the surprises of the tournament, defying their army of critics who confidently predicted an ugly implosion as soon as they took to the field.

Captained by Shahid Afridi, they overcame a demoralising loss to New Zealand to end defending champions Australia's 34-match unbeaten run in the tournament and clinch top spot in their qualifying pool.

Now the West Indies, who squeezed into the last eight courtesy only of a better run-rate than Bangladesh, stand in Pakistan's way as the quarter-finals get underway.

Victory in Dhaka could hand Afridi's men a mouth-watering semi-final against arch-rivals India, if the co-hosts beat Australia in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

"Our entire focus is on winning the quarter-final, I am not even thinking of the next match, whether it is India or Australia," said Afridi.

"We will not take the West Indies lightly. Any team is capable of winning on their day, there are no second chances in a knock-out match. I think they are a very good side."

Afridi is the tournament's leading bowler with 17 wickets with his fastish leg-breaks, while seamer Umar Gul has kept the pressure on at the other end with 13 wickets.

Afridi may have failed with the bat so far with just 65 runs in six games, but young guns Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq have shone brightly in their first World Cup.

Akmal has scored 211 runs at 52.75 and Shafiq averages 124 in the two games he has played so far, while seasoned seniors like Misbah-ul Haq and Younis Khan have lent solidity to the middle-order.

West Indies threw away two winning positions in their last two matches against England and India and go into Wednesday's game at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium having lost 18 successive matches against the leading nations.

But they will be boosted by the return of star batsman Chris Gayle and pace spearhead Kemar Roach.

The duo missed the last league match against India in Chennai on Sunday with Gayle resting an abdominal strain and Roach feeling unwell due to viral fever and a stomach infection.

Experienced batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, left out of the last two matches, could also be recalled to plug the middle order leaks.

The West Indies return to the venue where they shot out Bangladesh for their lowest one-day total of 58 in the league to romp home by nine wickets in a match that ended in under two hours.

Meanwhile, besieged Australia captain Ricky Ponting denied Wednesday he plans to quit international cricket amid reports he was ready to walk away.

The 36-year-old Ponting, who has been under intense pressure since the Ashes defeat, as well as for his controversial behaviour at the World Cup, said retirement had never crossed his mind.

Britain's Daily Mail reported he planned to retire from the international scene at the end of World Cup and finish his career at an English county.

"I've never ever thought about retirement or where the finish line might be," he told Australian media.

"I've been trying to prepare myself as best I can as a player and lead the team as well as possible. For some reason, these retirement things keep popping up all the time.

"We've got a big game coming up against India that I'm looking forward to, and more importantly I'm looking forward to getting out there and performing well as a player."

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