They were six wickets for 102 runs, Australia had been six for 80.

The big blow for New Zealand was the loss of their key performer in skipper Stephen Fleming who had batted through the innings for his 48 before touching a lifting ball down the leg side from Brett Lee to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.

Chris Harris was nine not out and had been joined by Brendon McCullum.

Glenn McGrath got Australia off to a near-perfect start. Despite conceding six off his first over, and then watching as Brett Lee had eight taken off his first, four of them overthrows, McGrath came back with two wickets in his second over.

Daniel Vettori, who opened the innings for the second time in the tournament, went for a ball wide of off stump but forgot to get his feet toward the ball and the edge was taken with glee by wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.

There was even more glee three balls later when, without addition to the score, Nathan Astle was beaten by a ball that moved across him and which he helped on its way to second slip where Ricky Ponting dived to take the catch. New Zealand were 14 for two wickets.

McGrath ran into some problems in his third over when bowling an uncharacteristic three wides in one over but in his fourth he trapped Scott Styris leg before wicket for three and New Zealand were 33 for three.

Chris Cairns joined Fleming, who continued the run of sound batting form that has marked this tournament.

Cairns got underway with four over slips and then in the same over, Lee mis-fielded the ball at third man and Cairns had four more. Then in the fifth over, Cairns played a superb back foot shot which saw the ball flying onto the grandstand roof behind the long on boundary for a huge six.

But when facing Andy Bichel, Cairns drove at the ball and saw it fly off the top edge down to third man where Brett Lee took an easy catch, Cairns having scored 16 off 25 balls.

Fleming was controlled in all his shot selection. With Lee bowling around the wicket, Fleming played a superb cover drive and backed that up with a cut off the back foot, both shots making the boundary and seeing Lee off after his first spell of five overs at a cost of 31 runs.

McGrath followed in the next over with three for 29 from his six overs.

Lou Vincent finally got underway after 14 balls with four runs that passed wide of second slip. But he was never entirely comfortable and having come down the wicket a couple of times to Ian Harvey, he stayed in his ground and edged a ball to Damien Martyn in slips to be out for seven, leaving New Zealand on 84 for five.

Both scored half-centuries as they steered Australia toward a position of more comfort.

With Brett Lee hitting two sixes off the last two balls of the innings, Australia finished on 208 for nine wickets, a score much more than they might have expected at 84 for seven.

Bevan, a constant thorn in New Zealand's, and other team's, side scored 56 before he tried to get onto a climbing ball from Jacob Oram which he hit to Lou Vincent fielding at deep mid-off.

Although it looked like he hadn't quite picked up the ball, Vincent dived forward to grasp the chance which saw Bevan gone and Australia 181 for eight.

It was a timely partnership for the Australians who looked down and out after an outstanding assault by fast bowler Shane Bond.

Bond unleashed the greatest bowling by a New Zealander in a One-Day International when capturing six wickets for 23 runs and finishing his spell with Australia's innings in tatters at 88 for seven wickets.

It was a magnificent display by Bond who has reserved his best bowling for the Australians having taken his only other five-wicket bag against them in Adelaide when he took five for 25 last summer.

He surpassed Scott Styris' performance of six for 25 against the West Indies at Port of Spain last year as the best one-day bowling by a New Zealander.

However, by bowling Bond through his overs by the 29th, Fleming did find his options reduced. That was more the case when Daniel Vettori finished his 10 with none for 40 in the 35th and Chris Harris had none for 24 off his 10 by the 40th.

Bichel had joined Bevan when the score was 84 in the 27th over but it wasn't long before Bichel was showing the touch that saw him scored 34 not out to achieve the victory against England on the same ground.

The pair achieved the best partnership of the innings and the 50 came up off 85 balls.

Bichel was helped with a six he hit off a ball from Andre Adams which bounced twice before Bichel re-adjusted his sights and powered it back over the bowler's head and the boundary. But he also got a beamer from Adams which hit him on the side of the head.

He did play some nice cut shots from Vettori and was quick to get onto anything loose.

Bichel achieved the best score of his career with a beautifully driven shot through to the extra cover boundary from Styris' bowling to go to 38.

Nathan Astle's arrival at the bowling crease for only the 45th over allowed an off-driven boundary to Bichel which brought up his maiden half-century in ODIs, scored off 70 balls and including one six and six fours.

Jacob Oram did the damage at the end by getting Bevan and then in the next over having Bichel caught at mid-on for 64 off 83 balls.

Glenn McGrath came in and scored his first run in three World Cups. Then Brett Lee hit a big six off Oram to bring up his side's 200. Off the next ball, the last, he hit another six over cover. And the Australian machine was back in action.

Bond took the first three wickets to fall and then came back and took two more to be sitting on a hat-trick as Australia slumped to 80 for six wickets in the 25th over.

Bond broke the dangerously developing fifth-wicket partnership between Damien Martyn and Michael Bevan when Martyn feathered a wicket behind to wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum and then next ball trapped Brad Hogg clear in front with a yorker.

Bond had five for 21 from his first eight overs.

It was great reward for Bond personally, his second five-wicket bag, but it was also an outstanding return for skipper Stephen Fleming who kept the Australians guessing with his innovative tactics throughout the first 25 overs.

Despite not bowling as tightly as Fleming might have wanted, the New Zealand attack or, more especially, Bond removed the dangerous Australian opening pair of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

The start was poor enough that Fleming took Andre Adams out of the attack after only one over. He wasn't prepared to put up with the charity Adams had provided in earlier games in the tournament and once nine runs, including two boundaries, came from the over, he brought in left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori for the fourth.

Bond was unsettled in his first over, bowling a wide and a no-ball but in his second he was more like the bowler who tormented the Australians last summer.

When Hayden found himself facing after a single taken by Gilchrist, he received one of the first fuller balls bowled by Bond and he was fatally attracted into sparring at it. The edge was taken and McCullum did the rest. Australia had lost their first wicket at 17 with Hayden scoring only one.

Five runs came from Vettori's first over as Fleming started to control things like a chess grand master with his field setting, making changes throughout the over.

Bond, in his third over, had a shout for leg before wicket turned down with the ball pitching outside leg to Gilchrist, but later in the over he had greater success with a ball barely pitching on leg, but a little fuller, and drawing a favourable response from umpire Asoka de Silva. Gilchrist, a key wicket, was gone for 18 off 20 balls and Australia were 24 for two wickets.

Vettori kept the pressure on Australian captain Ricky Ponting by bowling a maiden and in his next over, it was apparent that New Zealand's tactics of frustrating Ponting were beginning to work.

In the ninth over, Bond was back in the action again when Ponting received a shorter ball that lifted more than he wanted. He attempted an off-side drive but again the ball took the edge and flew high to Fleming at first slip where he pulled in the 98th catch of his One-Day International career.

Ponting had scored six off 20 balls and Australia were 31 for three wickets.

Darren Lehmann took his opportunity to get his scoring underway when playing a lovely cover drive to the boundary off Vettori.

Fleming took Vettori out of the attack after his four overs had conceded only 12 runs and replaced him with Jacob Oram who saw one wider ball on the off-side quickly despatched to the backward point boundary by Damien Martyn.

Bond's six over spell resulted in three for 20 before he was replaced by Adams.

Fleming had instant reward for the change when Adams managed to square up the left-handed Lehmann and the ball flew low to a wide slip position where Nathan Astle held the catch to leave Australia 47 for four wickets with Lehmann gone for four.

The quick-change bowling tactics were right out of the same tactical drawer as former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe employed to such outstanding effect during the 1992 World Cup campaign in New Zealand.

Martyn and Michael Bevan had to work hard for their runs and from the 12th to the 18th over, only 13 runs were scored.

They made it through to 80, having added 33 in 11 overs before Bond struck.

It is not quite make or break for the New Zealanders, but a win over their transtasman rivals would see them into the semi-finals with a match to spare.

They still have a match against India on Friday in reserve but given the way India are playing a win today would be a big boost.

Australia have their own incentive, maintaining their unbeaten record in the World Cup. They have already qualified for the semi-finals.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming won the toss and decided to ask Australia to bat first, something Australian captain Ricky Ponting said he would have done anyway.

It is shaping as a fascinating contest, not only because of their traditional rivalry but also because of the changes to the sides since they last met.

The Australians are without the Waugh twins, Stephen and Mark, ace leg-spinner Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie, while Andrew Symonds are also out for this game.

They represent a significant core of the fear factor when New Zealand play Australia.

But the Australians have shown in the matches to date that they have moved on in terms of their own development under Ponting's leadership siince New Zealand knocked Australia out of their own VB series last summer.

The opening partnership of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden is always dangerous, even if Hayden has yet to show his best form in the tournament.

Left-arm chinaman spinner Brad Hogg is another new face for the New Zealanders and a player they will be keen to master as soon as possible.

For the Australians, the only New Zealander they don't know is Jacob Oram, the tall medium-pacer who is able to get disconcerting bounce from even the most benign pitches.

It is a fine day and the pitch is expected to be the slower type that has prevailed at Port Elizabeth throughout the tournament. It is hot with a light breeze blowing.

The teams are:

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Bevan, Ian Harvey, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Andy Bichel, Glenn McGrath. (12th man - Jimmy Maher

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Daniel Vettori, Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Chris Cairns, Lou Vincent, Brendon McCullum, Chris Harris, Jacob Oram, Andre Adams, Shane Bond. (12th man - Daryl Tuffey).

Umpires: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka), Steve Bucknor (West Indies).