A cool, calm and collected half-ton from Grant Elliott and an innovative innings from Daniel Vettori saw New Zealand down Pakistan by five wickets in their Champions Trophy semi-final clash at the Wanderers on Saturday.

Chasing 234 for the win and left with a tall order in the wake of overly circumspect knocks from Martin Guptill (31 runs off 55 balls) and Ross Taylor (38 from 61), the steely duo employed calculated and methodical ground strokes across a 104-run alliance that saw the Black Caps through to Monday's final against Australia.

Dropped on 42 by Younis Khan, who grassed an absolute sitter at cover, South-African born Elliot made the spill count and enjoyed some particularly hefty blows in the batting Powerplay.

The encounter was headed down to the wire before Rana Naved and Umar Gul fetched 14 and 16 runs respectively across the 45th and 46th over. With the pace aces' short-pitched fodder duly smeared to all corners of the Wanderers, Elliott (75 not out off 103) and Man of the Match Vettori were left saunter through the closing runs.

Vettori (41 off 42) tried to seal the deal with a glory shot over Cow Corner but missed and was easily stumped off Saaed Ajmal (two for 39) before Neil Broom's scampered single to the wicketkeeper heralded Kiwi triumph.

Earlier a flourishing 55 from Umar Akmal and a defiant 45 from Mohammad Yousuf were all that stood between Pakistan and a very poor total.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first on a veritable tarmac of a track at the Wanderers, a fluent start from openers Imran Nazir (28) and Kamran Akmal (24) went out the window as Pakistan lost their first four wickets across a mere 40 runs.

Fast bowler Shane Bond enjoyed some steep bounce while Ian Butler's nagging line and length proved the better of the top order.

After an 80-run stand between Umar and Yousuf, Vettori add to his removal of opposite number Younis earlier in the day with the prized scalp of dynamo Akmal. The half-centurion was robbed by an awful lbw decision from umpire Simon Taufel, who failed to notice a fat inside edge on the sweep.

With Butler (four for 44) and Vettori (three for 43) having completed their respective spells, the tail-enders enjoyed a mow through the batting Powerplay and belatedly showed the specialist batsmen how to take to the Kiwi attack.

Naved's spank over extra cover for six paved the way for Mohammad Aamer's late-order heroics. While Aamer (19 not out) carved Bond and posse for a string of welcome boundaries, Ajmal (14 not out) scampered panicked singles.

Jonhenry Wilson in Johannesburg