By RICHARD BOOCK in Port Elizabeth
Celebrations were the last thing on Shane Bond's mind yesterday after he posted the best bowling figures for a New Zealander in one-day internationals, and the fifth-best in World Cup history.
Man-of-the-match after demolishing Australia's top and middle order and finishing with six wickets for 23 runs, Bond was left despondent when New Zealand collapsed spectacularly at the batting crease.
They were bowled out for 112 in 30.1 overs and lost by 96 runs.
The 27-year-old, possibly the fastest bowler to play for New Zealand, sent back openers Matt Hayden and Adam Gilchrist within the first five overs, knocked over skipper Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn soon after, then returned to end the hopes of Brad Hogg and Ian Harvey.
The withering spell of pace bowling continued Bond's astonishing success against Australia, who have struggled to cope with his skidding pace since he burst on to the scene in last year's tri-series in Australia.
Ponting in particular has suffered, falling to the New Zealand quick on all six occasions in which they've met.
The strike-rate is also high for Gilchrist (three times in five games) and Martyn (three from six).
The difficulties Bond posed yesterday were accentuated later in the Australian innings when he started to make the ball reverse, leading to death-by-yorker dismissals for Hogg and Harvey.
"I'm more disappointed about the result, really," said Bond, when asked about his remarkable success. "It [the bowling] was good while it lasted, but the big thing is to win, no matter what the individual performance."
Bond bowled straight, fast and full, reaching his fastest speed of 154km/h and finishing the day with a better strike rate against Australia than any other bowler in history.
He said afterwards that he did not get too carried away with the speed-measuring radar guns at the ground, but could not help but be interested in the pace he was charting.
"It's hard to say whether that will be my top speed," he said.
"I probably would've said yes six months ago, but in the right conditions and if everything clicks - who knows what might happen.
"All fast bowlers are interested in the speeds registered, and while I'm not specifically out to break my record, it's nice when it happens."
The chief destroyer of New Zealand's innings was another paceman, 26-year-old Brett Lee, who took five wickets in 15 balls. He finished with five for 42.
Lee has taken 14 wickets in the tournament and Bond 15.
New Zealand's hopes of reaching the semifinals now rest on the match against India tomorrow night.
Should New Zealand topple India, they would book a rematch in Durban next week for one semifinal, and Australia would probably face Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth in the other semi.
Meanwhile, no action will apparently be taken against Ponting after he appeared to give Cairns a face-to-face send-off yesterday, prompting the batsman to have a word with umpire Steve Bucknor before he departed.
Fleming said later he believed there was still some tension in the air over the incident, although he did not see the exchange, and had not heard what was said.
"Yeah, I think there was a problem," he said. "I'm not sure what it was all about, but I think there was a problem, and the umpires mentioned something about it."
Ponting said it was merely a harmless jibe made to Cairns in response to some comments made to him when he was batting in the first innings.
"It was just a bit of friendly banter, mate," he said.
"I copped a bit from him when I was batting so I gave a bit back when he came in - or when he got out, actually.
"I don't think it was that serious ... I doubt it'll go any further. There wasn't much to get upset about."
Leading New Zealand bowling performances in one-day internationals:
* Shane Bond 10-2-23-6 v Australia, Port Elizabeth, 2002-03.
* Scott Styris 7-0-25-6 v West Indies, Port-of-Spain, 2001-02.
* Matthew Hart 10-2-22-5 v West Indies, Goa, 1994-95.
* Andre Adams 8.4-1-22-5 v India, Queenstown, 2002-03.
* Richard Collinge 7-1-23-5 v India, Christchurch, 1975-76.
* Richard Hadlee 10.1-4-25-5 v Sri Lanka, Bristol, 1983.
* Shane Bond 9.2-2-25-5 v Australia, Adelaide, 2001-02.
* Jacob Oram 10-3-26-5 v India, Auckland, 2002-03.
* Richard Hadlee 8.3-4-26-5 v Australia, Sydney 1980-81.
* Lance Cairns 11-3-28-5 v England, Scarborough, 1978.
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Cricket: The quick ... and the dead
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