[Samuel_Vimes]

Can England hold on against the fierce Namibian fighters? And will New Zealand show that their excellent performance against the Danes was not a one day streak of form?

One shocker is enough for amateurs
In the first match to be held at rainy Cleethorpes in this Beach World Cup, Neil Pickup could be seen there along with 882 anxious English. Would his team follow up on that fine performance which saw them defeat the Dutch? Or would these amateur Namibians, unknown before the tournament but now famous throughout the cricketing world thanks to that defeat of Australia, claim another major scalp? AJ Burger certainly seemed to think they could, hitting 25 from 15 balls before getting run out thanks to a freak injury he suffered half-way down the pitch. Karg was then clean bowled by Andy Caddick for 1, and the English crowd were breathing with relief. LJ Burger tried to save the innings, but his strike rate was way too low, and when Caddick caught him with an excellent run to long off, it was only a technicality. Craig White got the honour of removing the tail, and he did so in style - taking Kotze for 3 and van Vuuren for 4. The English innings was pretty boring, but it is worth noting that Marcus Trescothick at the moment has an average of infinity - seeing as he has not been out yet in this tournament. He made 92 today for a total of 277 so far - exactly equal to England's total amount of runs.

Solid team effort sends Pakistan into semis
The fourth quarter-final spot to be hampered by drizzle, Skegness welcomed New Zealand and Pakistan to what should be a great day of cricket. Inzamam continued in that fine style he played against Bangladesh, although admittedly his strike rate was a bit low in the first three overs with an unbeaten 44. He got his first four with the 36th ball, one that was shockingly poorly fielded by Jacob Oram, only to be the victim of a dodgy leg-before decision by referee Asoka DaSilva. The replay showed that the ball was going outside off. Still, nothing like some excitement to a match - not that Rashid Latif was very eager to provide it. He struggled with the aggression, and although it got better towards the end, an unbeaten 80 off 43 balls isn't very good in this form of the game. Stephen Fleming, who had batted so excellently against the Danish bowlers the other day, now had to chase 147 with his Black Cap mates under the lights. He started slowly, hitting 23 from the first two overs, mostly thanks to some great bowling by Waqar and Wasim. Just as he thought he had the strike rate up a bit, Wasim got the ball onto his pads and right into the stumps, and Fleming was out for 37. Young keeper Brendan McCullum certainly tried, but when he was out for 20 due to another splendid Wasim delivery, all hope was lost for NZ. Despite Oram's unbeaten 39, NZ finish a disappontingly high 45 runs behind.

So the semi-finals: England v Pakistan, South Africa v India