Team director Mickey Arthur sought “divine help” on Monday as Pakistan braced for one last push to squeeze into the World Cup semi-finals before piling on the praise for “game-changing” opener Fakhar Zaman.

Pakistan have recorded back-to-back wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand to reignite their campaign with Zaman returning from a knee injury to hit 81 and then a blistering 81-ball 126 not out against the Kiwis.

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With eight points from as many games, Pakistan not only need to beat England in their last game in Kolkata on Saturday but also hope New Zealand lose to Sri Lanka in Bengaluru two days earlier or that the match is washed out.

Afghanistan can also edge out Pakistan depending on the results in their two last matches.

“Who knows how we are going to go in this competition,” said Arthur.

“I have a real feeling we’re going to get to the semi-finals but let’s see what happens. What we do know is that it will in our hands come Saturday.

“With a little bit of divine help, we can get to the semi-final but we have to play well. We played the perfect game once, I think, and that was against Bangladesh,” he said.

If Pakistan do qualify they will likely set up a mouth-watering clash with arch-rivals India in Kolkata on November 16 for a place in the final.

Arthur also hailed the match-winning displays of Zaman.

“Since Fakhar has come in he has just been unbelievable,” said Arthur of the 33-year-old left-hander.

“Sometimes in campaigns like this, it takes something to just ignite it and Fakhar certainly ignited that for us.

“We know when he plays well he is exceptional. I have always been a massive backer of Fakhar because I think he can change games.”

Chasing a daunting 402-run target to beat New Zealand — revised to 342 in 41 overs after rain — Zaman lifted the team to 200-1 before the match was halted with Pakistan 21 runs ahead of the DLS system.

Zaman hit 11 sixes and eight boundaries in his 11th ODI hundred, his first in two World Cups.

“Obviously, Fakhar coming into the side breathed a new lease of life into us. It was tough not having him at the start. His form coming into the competition was a little bit patchy.”

Zaman scored just 65 runs in four Asia Cup matches and 12 against the Netherlands in the World Cup before he was benched.

He then had a recurrence of a knee injury that forced him to withdraw mid-way through last year’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

“He (Zaman) changes games whenever he bats, the longer he bats the more dominant we become,” said Arthur.

“So, it is really important for us that we keep Fakhar in this type of form and it’s really important that he takes this form and aggression and precision with his batting into the game against England.”

Arthur said the team need to bring their best game against England, despite the defending champions having lost six of their seven matches.

“Let’s hope we are saving ourselves for a batting, bowling and fielding performance against England and then what will be, will be,” he said

PCB chief says team is ‘united’

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Zaka Ashraf said the team was “united” and rubbished reports of an alleged rift.

The comments come amid the Pakistan team’s dismal run in the ICC World Cup in India. Moreover, there are other issues concerning player power and the alleged involvement of ex-chief selector Inzamamul Haq with players’ agencies. Inzamam had resigned from the post last month in the wake of of conflict of interest allegations associating the former captain with a player agency.

Further, sitting members of the incumbent PCB set-up had alleged that illegal and unconstitutional steps were being taken by the Ashraf-led provisional regime. Ashraf’s tenure as the PCB chief has been extended after the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination recently gave a three-month extension to the PCB interim management committee.

During a media talk in Bahawalpur, Ashraf was questioned about reported rifts within the team after the Green Shirts lost three consecutive matches but he rubbished the reports. “There was no fighting,” he said.

When pressed about Inzamam’s resignation, he said, “There is no internal story nor is there any fighting between the players. All of the team is united and I’ve gone there [to India] and seen that there is complete unity in the squad.”

He said such “rubbish reports” were spread by those who were enemies of the Pakistan squad and were not sympathetic to the country.

“There is no such thing [as disunity in the team]. Our team is playing collectively for the country,” the PCB chief reiterated.

He further said the board was running smoothly and instigators were deliberately playing up an “artificial crises”.

Ashraf said he had called skipper Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman after their recent performances to congratulate them, adding that he had great respect for the former.

Asked whether Pakistan’s failure to win the World Cup would see Babar replaced as skipper, Ashraf said the decision was not up to him but to the PCB’s technical committee.

On the salary increase for players, he said he had supported the move to provide hefty compensation in order to prevent them from leaving to play in other leagues instead of performing in national tournaments.

“We have considered that we allow only one more league after the Pakistan Super League [for players to compete in],” Ashraf added.