Champions Trophy: Pak skipper Sarfraz Ahmed wary of 'very, very good England'

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur (left) and captain Sarfraz Ahmed share a light moment during a training session in Cardiff yesterday.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed is wary of the threat posed by England ahead of today's Wednesday's Champions Trophy semi-final in Cardiff.

Pakistan progressed after claiming a nail-biting three-wicket win against Sri Lanka here, with Sarfraz undefeated on 61 as he compiled an unbroken eighth-wicket partnership of 75 with Mohammad Amir to see his team home. When they slumped from 92 for one to 137 for six chasing 237 for victory, Pakistan looked down and out, but Sarfraz ensured a return to the Welsh capital in under 48 hours as Pool B reached a thrilling conclusion.

Sarfraz said: "It's a great win today and credit goes to the bowlers. There's a bit of concern about the middle-order batting, but we will sort out the problems. England is a very good team, a very, very good team. They've been playing really good cricket for the last two years. If you are playing a world-class team, definitely, you play more positive cricket and we will do so."

Pakistan, meanwhile, were fined for a slow over-rate after they were ruled to be an over short when time allowances were taken into consideration. Sarfraz was fined 20 per cent of his match fee, while his players were fined 10 per cent.