KEY POINTS:
Matthew Hayden was the delighted beneficiary of another chapter of New Zealand fielding bloopers last night as Australia's batsmen defied oppressive temperatures to power to their strongest performance of the tri-series.
The powerfully-built Queenslander gave his much-debated World Cup chances a considerable boost when he contributed 117 of his team's eventual total of 343 for five at Perth, but only after being gifted three lives along the way.
The least impressive of the Australian top-order this series after consecutive scores of 28, 27, 19, 0 and 30 not out, Hayden survived the chances, the 40C-plus heat and some sketchy timing throughout to post his sixth ODI century, and his highest score since making 126 against India three years previous.
But, as in Sydney last Sunday, New Zealand could hardly have been more generous in the field, dropping straightforward catches off his bat when he was on 0 and 4, and then missing a slightly more difficult offering when he was on 79.
Daniel Vettori spilt the first chance at mid-off after Hayden drove at Mark Gillespie; Ross Taylor then misjudged a steepling miscue at mid-wicket off the bowling of Kyle Mills, and Hamish Marshall failed to hold a sharp catch off the gentle off-breaks of Taylor.
To make matters worse for New Zealand, there was some more inexplicable fielding errors from the likes of Vettori, Taylor and Craig McMillan, and an extremely difficult caught and bowled chance missed by Jacob Oram off the bat of Ricky Ponting.
While Hayden scratched and butchered his way to three figures, Ponting was in another class as he blazed 111 off 122 balls, an innings that contained eight fours, a six and - even more astonishing given the conditions - 46 hard-run singles.
Together the pair added 200 for the second wicket, breaking the previous Australian versus New Zealand record of 151 set by John Dyson and Greg Chappell in 1980-81, and setting up their side for their biggest total since they smashed 434 against South Africa last March - and lost.
It was Ponting's first century at the WACA and his 22nd overall. Only Sachin Tendulkar (40), Sanath Jayasuriya (23) and Sourav Ganguly (22) have posted as many or more.
Apart from the frightening fielding effort, the New Zealand bowlers also wilted in the Western Australian heat, none more so than Oram, who was fleeced for 10 an over, including one that went for 17.
The one astonishing exception was Vettori, who somehow managed to concede just 34 runs from 10 overs, while eventually snaring the wicket of Hayden.
New Zealand, who chose to save their best pacemen - Shane Bond and James Franklin - for tomorrow's critical game against England, played two spinners in a bid to counter the Australians, but found themselves chasing leather regardless. Skipper Stephen Fleming tried to slow the run-rate by putting off the second two power plays but only managed to delay the inevitable - Australia taking 34 runs between the 20 and 25th overs; 47 between 34th and the 39th, and 101 off the last 10.
