BOND LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter
New Zealand strike bowler Shane Bond believes the conditions and the size of Sabina Park should suit his team when it goes up against Sri Lanka in the first semi-final tomorrow.
It will be New Zealand's first match of the Cricket World Cup at the ground in Kingston but Bond said the team has seen the tapes of the group stage games held here and spoke to members of the Ireland team who played their first round in Kingston.
"The ball might swing and should have more pace and bounce than the other wickets we've played at, which suits us," said Bond shortly after arriving at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel yesterday afternoon.
"It's a small ground. We have a long batting line-up, some big hitters, so it might suit us better and should be an ideal ground when playing a side like Sri Lanka."
New Zealand lost their Super Eights match against Sri Lanka by six wickets in Grenada with opener Stephen Fleming and number three batsman Ross Taylor out for a 'duck' with just five runs on the board.
With such lethal bowlers as Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka's arsenal, Bond acknowledged that "the key is for the top order to get a good start" to have a good chance of winning.
In the same breath, Bond said he would have a bullseye on Sri Lanka's veteran batsman, Sanath Jayasuriya, who had a half century in their first match.
"If we can get Sanath out early we can probably limit them to 200 runs so it's my job, especially in this game, to get him out and we've always identified him as a key wicket," said Bond.
The right-arm bowler also said his team has totally got over their 215-run thumping at the hands of champions Australia last Friday and dismissed Ricky Ponting's claim that Australia would have the psychological advantage if they met in the final.
"What we're disappointed about is that we are better than that," explained Bond.
SOLE FOCUS
Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga with Jamaica Pegasus hotel manager, Nancy McLean, shortly after his team arrived at the hotel in New Kingston yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
"The moment we beat South Africa (previous match) we knew we would be playing Sri Lanka and that became our sole focus. So we didn't do ourselves justice; we weren't focused. But we are here for the game we really want to play and we'll turn up for this game."
Bond also took some time to imagine for a moment how special it would be for his country - semi-finalists in 1992 - if they were to go all the way.
"I think people are hoping we win but aren't speaking it. But if we did, it would be a major boost for cricket in New Zealand," he said. "I think even to make the final would be a huge buzz and an Australia-New Zealandfinal would be something special."
Sri Lanka arrived at the hotel the same time as New Zealand but no one was available for interviews. Players and staff from both teams had a quick snack on the ground floor before heading to their rooms. There was a strong security presence in the lobby of the hotel.
Both teams are scheduled to train today at the match venue.
