Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer insisted his side would not take West Indies lightly when they met in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday.
West Indies chased down 247 to beat South Africa by five wickets at The Oval on Sunday while, later in the day, Pakistan overcame arch-rivals India by three-wickets with four balls remaining in a tense encounter at Edgbaston.
Woolmer said that the West Indies, whitewashed 4-0 during their recent Test series in England, would be hard to beat.
"I think they've gone through some tough times but they are an ever-improving side. They've got some quality batsmen, Brian Lara obviously," added Woolmer.
He has plenty of experience of the great man having coached the West Indies captain during the 1994 English season when Warwickshire won three domestic trophies and Lara scored a first-class world-record 501 not out, on the Birmingham ground, against Durham.
"Ramnaresh Sarwan made runs today too. So it's not going to be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination."
Pakistan booked their place in the last four when, having restricted India to 200 all out, they finished on 201 for seven with four balls to spare.
Yousuf Youhana's unbeaten 81 saw Pakistan home after fast bowler Rana Naved took a one-day international career-best four for 25. Youhana came to the crease with Pakistan in trouble at 27 for three and needed a runner for the final stages of his innings after suffering from cramps.
During the course of the Pakistan innings, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq became only the second batsmen after India's Sachin Tendulkar - ruled out of the Champions Trophy with an elbow injury - to score 10,000 one-day international runs.
"We're delighted to have reached the semi-finals and I'm pleased to have reached over 10,000 runs," said Inzamam, who made 41.
Looking ahead to the possibility of winning a final against either world champions Australia or hosts England (who play at Edgbaston on Tuesday) at The Oval on Saturday,
Inzamam said: "We will try our very best. The way this team is playing it is looking very good and hopefully we will go through." Former England batsman Woolmer said he was trying to comprehend the enormity of an India-Pakistan clash, having seen his team make harder work than they ought to have done of winning a game watched by a 21,000 sell-out crowd.
"It's certainly something new for me as a cricket coach to understand that pressure. I think it got to both sides as I think the pitch was more than a 200 pitch. But the pressure was so great that the batting wasn't what it should have been."
Only a stand of 82 in 83 balls between Rahul Dravid (67), the ICC World Player of the Year, and Ajit Agarkar (47), took India to a competitive total after they slumped to 73 for five.
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