KEY POINTS:
Australian captain Ricky Ponting is wary of the threat of Shane Bond as his unbeaten side eye their World Cup showdown against New Zealand.
The Australians have won their previous 20 World Cup outings, including the last two finals. But they have lost their past three ODIs against New Zealand, and are on full alert as they approach Saturday's encounter at Grenada's National Stadium.
Bond is enjoying a standout tournament with 12 wickets at 12.83, and has boosted his overall World Cup record to 29 wickets at 15.82. Only former England seamer Chris Old (15.18) has a lower average, but from fewer games.
To add spice to the contest, Bond has knocked over Ponting six times in 11 ODIs, and took six for 23 in the last Australia-New Zealand World Cup match, at Port Elizabeth.
Ponting said Bond was "one of those guys that you have to pay the utmost attention to".
"He is very, very dangerous with the new ball and [Stephen] Fleming uses him as a strike bowler through the middle to try and break partnerships. He generally does that.
"He is an unusual bowler in that, if anything, he drifts the ball back into the right-hander with the new ball. That doesn't happen often, right-arm bowlers don't do that much."
Bond has said New Zealand can continue their Chappell-Hadlee success if they can live with Australia's early heat, and capitalise on any mistakes the defending champions make when placed under pressure.
"We always believe that if we can take Australia down to the last 10 overs of the game, then we have a chance," he said. "We showed that at home. We chased down big scores and got to the business end of the game when we were in with a chance.
"Just like anybody else, they make mistakes when they are placed under pressure."