Fleming - do or die for his team (Getty Images).

By Myles Hodgson, PA Sport Cricket Correspondent, Johannesburg

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New Zealand enter another make-or-break situation on Friday with captain Stephen Fleming hoping the reward of a World Cup semi-final place will spur his team on to victory over India at Centurion.

Virtually from the moment the International Cricket Council refused their request to have the pool match against Kenya moved away from Nairobi on security grounds, instead awarding the points to the co-hosts, New Zealand have needed to win nearly every match.

It is a pressure which has helped them reach the second stage of the tournament at the expense of South Africa and one which captain Fleming believes can help them overcome the loss to Australia in Port Elizabeth two days ago after reducing them to 84 for seven.

"We've been up against the wall the whole time, if anything we've played our poorest cricket when we've had a life," said Fleming today.

"Before the Australia game we felt we needed to win one of our next two matches and we lost it so we're back in familiar territory.

"We seem to play better when we're in that state. We don't see it as being in a bad situation - we have to win tomorrow to go through to the semi-finals.

"It's not a bad scenario and if I'd been told six months ago that we were going to be playing India to go through to the semi-finals I'd have taken it any day.

"That's the scenario we're in and even without the ICC relocating our games I think we've done pretty well."

As the team who have provided more problems than most to Australia in recent years, it is a little ironic that New Zealand have studied the manner in which the world champions demolished India earlier in the competition in an effort to help them.

That nine-wicket victory was achieved with the pace of Brett Lee softening up India's batting line-up before Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath ran through them to dismiss them for 125.

"We have looked quite a bit at how the Australians bowled at them and all it's done is reconfirm to us where we need to be," said Fleming.

"There are areas where we want to bowl to them, there are certain things we want to try and certain stages, but when you come down to it you have to execute your plans very well to put them under pressure.

"We'd like to see pace in the wicket, we think that would suit us. We wanted to use that in New Zealand in certain areas against certain batsman and if there's pace in the wicket here we'd like to use it again."

Shane Bond, who claimed six for 23 against Australia earlier this week and was also successful during New Zealand's series victory over India before the World Cup, will be given a key role but Fleming knows he must have better support.

All-rounder Chris Cairns is expected to bowl on Friday to provide experience to an attack which can sometimes lack the cutting edge once Bond has finished his spell.

"We need better support for him," confirmed Fleming.

"You need accompanying acts whenever you have a maestro and he's in very good form, and we're looking for other players to stand up.

"As with the batting, you need one player to shine and others to support him."

India, who already know they face Kenya in the second semi-final in Durban, enter Friday's showdown happy to be able to have a say in deciding the opponents for Australia in the opening semi-final at Port Elizabeth.

"I know we're already into the semi-finals but there are other ways of looking at this game," said Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

"We want to win because, if we beat New Zealand tomorrow, Sri Lanka get an opportunity to qualify for the semi-finals and they could be a handy side at Port Elizabeth where the ball has turned a lot.

"There are a lot of things to get out of this game, it's not just another game to us just because we've qualified already.

"I don't mean to put down New Zealand's bowling attack, but if you look at Pakistan they have a better bowling attack than New Zealand's and we won and played well against them, and England have a good bowling attack and we beat them.

"We've played well against better attacks so there's no reason for us to panic when we play tomorrow."