Bond & Mills fit to play

Shane Bond and Kyle Mills have been confirmed to start the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia, but Scott Styris has been ruled out due to not having recovered enough from a hamstring and back injury.

Shane Bond coming through his injury and being available to play is a huge boost for the Black Caps with Bond having taken 22 wickets from six matches against Australia at an average of less than 11 and dismissing Ricky Ponting on every occasion.

The last time the two sides squared off against each other was the Chappell-Hadlee series played in New Zealand last December where Australia won 2-1.

Australia has won 15 of the past 17 one-day internationals between the two sides.

The other semi-final between the West Indies and South Africa is played in Jaipur on Thursday.