New Zealand are through to the Women's T20 World Cup, overwhelming Pakistan with the ball for the 54-run victory needed to clinch their progress to the final four.
Amelia Kerr destroyed the Pakistan batting tail with figures of 3/14, including the valuable scalp of Pakistan captain Fatima Sana, but fellow spinner Eden Carson turned the match the way of the Kiwis, bowling a rare maiden ninth over to staunch Pakistan's aggressive approach.
Choosing to bat first, the White Ferns struggled to find runs against their rivals' slow-bowling attack, mustering just 111 in their 20 overs. Veteran opener Suzie Bates led the way with 28, putting on 41 runs for the first wicket with George Plimmer and then combining with Brooke Halliday for 38 in a key middle-order partnership.
Both teams had aspirations of reaching the semis with victory, but Pakistan needed to achieve their winning total in just 10 overs to improve their net run rate enough. They were never on pace to achieve that, but were ahead of the Kiwis for the first three overs, until the loss of opener Muneeba Ali (15 runs off 11 balls) dealt a blow to their hopes.
From that point, Pakistan lost wickets too regularly to mount a challenge. Four wickets for nine runs left them staggering at 28/5, before Sana and Nida Dar momentarily stopped the rot, compiling 24 runs for the sixth wicket.
Returning from mourning the death of her father, Sana topscored with 21 off 23 balls, but when Dar fell, the last five wickets fell for four runs, as the Ferns celebrated their first World Cup semifinal appearance since 2016.
Three of those wickets came in Kerr's last four balls, as Syeda Aroob Shah was run out, Bates took a catch off Sana and was on the spot again to take Sadia Iqbal two balls later.
New Zealand entered the tournament on a 10-game losing streak in the T20 format, but snapped that drought against India in their opening match. Further wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan see them advance, behind Australia.
"Probably has not quite sunk in yet," said captain Sophie Devine. "Incredibly proud of this group.
"We will celebrate tonight, but we are looking forward to the next phase of this tournament. Results have not gone our way leading into this tournament, but the thing I am most proud of is we stuck to the processes.
"When we get it right, we can beat any team in the world."
Their opponents are not yet known, although England currently head the other group on run rate over South Africa.
The English are still to face West Indies, who can also force their way into the final four with victory and their superior run rate.
NZ 110/6 (Bates 28, Halliday 22; Sandhu 3/18) Pakistan 56 (Sana 21; Kerr 3/14, Carson 2/7)
NZ win by 54 runs
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