Pakistan team mentor Matthew Hayden has admitted that his team’s qualification to the semi-finals of this T20 World Cup was “a miracle” but said the element of surprise will make them the side to beat in the last-four stage.

Pakistan were on the verge of elimination after their opening match defeat to arch-rivals India and the subsequent one-run shock loss to Zimbabwe.

They, thereafter, won their games against The Netherlands and South Africa to somehow stay alive. But luck smiled on them when the Dutchmen stunned South Africa by 13 runs in Adelaide on Sunday. Pakistan then beat Bangladesh by five wickets to set up a semi-final date with New Zealand in Sydney on Wednesday.

“It’s just a miracle that we are seeing unfold here. But even before we got to this day, I sensed that we have this trust in the process. We have got the energy, the commitment and belief in each other, and then the magic just unfolds.

“It hasn’t been smooth sailing. If it wasn’t for the Dutch, we are not here. But we are here and it’s powerful because no one wants to see us and that’s the element of surprise as we have got the advantage,” Hayden said in a video footage uploaded on the ICC Twitter handle.

“Others thought they got rid of us, but now we are here, dug in and I actually love how we have gone about this compared to the last World Cup because the expectations were enormous then.”