Brian Lara's confident side used a three-man spin attack to secure a 30-run victory and reach the last four of the Wills International Cup in Dhaka.

The slow bowling tactic paid off as injury-hit Pakistan were restricted to 259-9 in reply to West Indies' 289-9 in the day-night international.

Left-arm spinner Keith Arthurton led the way with a career-best 4-31 in front of a sell-out crowd of 40,000 at the National Stadium to earn the man of the match award.

West Indies' impressive innings was built around a bludgeoning 79 off 58 balls from hard-hitting opener Philo Wallace.

Wasim Akram takes his third wicket for Pakistan

And Pakistan found the target too much in the absence of injured star batsmen Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul Haq.

Lara was himself deprived of the services of leading strike bowlers Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

But he struck gold through Arthurton and his spin partners Carl Hooper and Raul Lewis, who held up the Pakistan reply.

West Indies now face India on Saturday for a place in the final.

Scoreboard:

West Indies innings:
S Williams lbw Mahmood 14
P Wallace run out 79
S Chanderpaul st Moin Khan b Arshad Khan 49
B Lara c Mushtaq b Arshad Khan 16
C Hooper c and b Malik 13
K Arthurton c Moin Khan b Akram 33
P Simmons b Akram 21
R Jacobs lbw Akram 0
R Lewis not out 20
N Mclean c Ijaz b Malik 7
M Dillon not out 5
Extras (lb-2, w-15, nb-6) 32
Total (for 9 wickets, 50 overs) 289

Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-143, 3-166, 4-189, 5-204, 6-250, 7-250, 8-268, 9-277

Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-0-55-3, Azhar Mahmood 5-0-39-1, Saqlain Mushtaq 7-0-44-0, Arshad Khan 10-1-43-2, Shahid Afridi 9-0-48-0, Salim Malik 9-0-49-2

Pakistan innings:
Shahid Afridi lbw b Dillon 4
Salim Elahi run out 46
Azhar mahmood b Arthurton 20
Aamir Sohail b Hooper 12
Ijaz Ahmad b Arthurton 51
Akhtar Sarfaraz c Dillion b Mclean 14
Salim Malik lbw b Arthurton 15
Wasim Akram c Jacobs b Arthurton 10
Moin Khan c Lewis b Dillon 25
Saqlain Mushtaq not out 24
Arshad Khan not out 13
Extras (lb-12, w-8, nb-5) 25
Total (for 9 wickets, 50 overs) 259

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-70, 3-90, 4-100, 5-143, 6-177, 7-180, 8-194, 9-221