It was a rare night out on the chief executive for the New Zealand cricket team in Nairobi last night after their four wicket win over Pakistan in the ICC KnockOut tournament.

"This has been a tremendous day for New Zealand cricket," New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Christopher Doig told CricInfo from Nairobi today.

New Zealand will now play the winner of Friday's game between South Africa and India. Sunday's final will be the first time in 25 years New Zealand has competed in a final of a major limited overs competition.

Doig is in Nairobi for an International Cricket Council meeting to be held at the end of the tournament and was so delighted with the performance he shouted the team to dinner.

"It was a brilliant effort, especially given the opening partnership of the Pakistanis which put on 59 in 10 overs.

"To fight back to dismiss them for 252 gave us a chance.

"We struggled initially when losing two for 15 but then Nathan Astle and Roger Twose produced a quite outstanding partnership," he said.

Twose's 87 was his fifth ODI half century in succession while Astle's 49 was his best score in recent matches.

"Roger Twose has hit a quite extraordinary rich vein of form."

Twose's dismissal at 169 might normally have spelled disaster, and the loss of Adam Parore and Chris Harris from successive balls at 187 would have been the end of most New Zealand efforts.

"It was pretty scary stuff," Doig said. "To be in that position in the past would have meant many times that the side would have been out for 210.

"But Craig McMillan paced his innings beautifully. It would have been his best one-day innings. It was beautifully staged.

"Scott Styris had bowled well and produced one of the best 'none-fors' you could have in his 10 overs for 41 runs to then turn around and bat superbly to add 68 runs with McMillan.

"That's not to forget that it was against a very good attack with a lot of experience."

Doig said with the win being achieved without experienced players like Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Daniel Vettori it was a victory representative of the new brigade of New Zealand cricketers.

Styris had stood up in place of Cairns and taken on the responsibility while McMillan had shown his class.

"It's fair to say I'm reasonably stoked," Doig said.

The only negative on the win was the side strain suffered by Harris which meant he bowled only seven overs.

Doig said Cairns was champing at the bit to be involved in Sunday's final but team management would be taking a responsible attitude towards him. Although he hasn't been ruled out of the match yet.

"He needs to have an MRI scan and he is not able to have one in Kenya. He will have that as soon as he gets to South Africa," Doig said.

"But even not being involved in the win, Chris was as elated for the players as he would have been had he been out there.

"There is no doubt, and it was seen by me tonight, that every single player in the side gets pleasure out of other players' achievements.

"That is a new thing, a phenomenon that was developed by Steve Rixon and John Graham and which has been carried on superbly by Jeff Crowe and David Trist.

"The joy at the win on the faces of the young guys, like Shayne O'Connor, who bowled superbly, and Scott Styris was wonderful to see," Doig said.

© CricInfo