Cricket: Bond's bruised but not beaten

Shane Bond has a cricket ball-sized bruise on his right bicep but insists there is no mental scarring after Sri Lanka's heavy hitter spoiled his return to the international arena.

The New Zealand fast bowler was struck in the nets by teammate Daryl Tuffey in the lead-up to Wednesday night's Twenty20 international and once the game started his figures suffered punishment from Tillakaratne Dilshan.

The Sri Lankan opener made Bond feel decidedly unwelcome on his comeback at R Premadasa Stadium, the first over of the hosts' unsuccessful run chase seeing the right-hander edge a boundary to third man before slamming three more through the covers.

"You always think guys are going to take a couple of balls to get into it so yeah, it sort of surprised me," Bond said as he prepared for today's rematch. Bond has been tonked before in his limited overs career, with South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers and Lance Klusener all having a crack over the years.

India's Virender Sehwag and West Indian Chris Gayle also like to get things moving at the top of the order, although Dilshan, on current form, has pushed the boundaries.

"I've played him in the past and he's never played as freely as that," Bond said after watching Dilshan hit 57 from 28 balls before the tourists won the match by three runs defending their 141 for eight.

"I always actually enjoyed bowling to him, I've got him out a few times ... obviously it's been a couple of years so like all batters they mature."

Bond, 34, said his first six balls were a learning experience and his ability to adapt was reflected by the fact his next over cost four runs and by the end of the match he had a respectable Twenty20 analysis of none for 27 from four overs.

"It wasn't too bad, it was fun. I obviously had to make some adjustments to Dilshan, who played pretty well.

"First and foremost I had to tidy up the lines I bowl to him. I definitely know what I have to do in the next game."

Bond had been missing from the New Zealand environment since November 2007, although he has been around long enough to realise it is pointless to get spooked when a batsman hits a purple patch.

"When you're hitting a guy at the peak of his game, it's easy to just get defensive and wonder how am I going to stop him?

"You still have to try and get him out. He's like any other player. If he gets out of touch he could easily get knocked over three or four times in a row."

And the rewards are evident once Dilshan exits; no other Sri Lankan batsman came close to rivalling his blistering knock. Top order colleagues Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene all failed and the lower middle order and tail never threatened.

"If we get him out early we can get into these guys," Bond said.

"They've got four batters and underneath they're a bit thin. The rest of them sort of capitulated."

Bond is satisfied with his progress since he severed ties with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League in June, which enabled him to return to international cricket.

"I think with every spell I'm bowling, I'm feeling a little bit better. Everything's coming together."

Bond said the limited overs side had taken heart from the first win on tour.

New Zealand's batsmen could take little comfort from their collective performance, with Ross Taylor's 60 from 45 balls being the only innings of substance and five wickets fell for 19 runs in the final few frantic overs.

- NZPA