Watch: Shane Bond bowls a toe-crushing yorker to Michael Vaughan

Shane Bond was New Zealand’s best fast bowler whenever he played. Unfortunately for his country he missed more games than he played. Fast, fearsome and frustratingly fragile, will be remembered as much for his misfortune with injuries as for his wonderful ability. The game always lifted a notch when he had the ball in his hand.

His athletic action was geared towards in-swing and his 150-plus kph efforts meant the ball would swing late making him unplayable on many occasions. Toe-crushing yorkers were a specialty and he feasted on the world’s best batsmen including Michael Vaughan.

In the 2006/07 Commonwealth Bank Series Australia, Bond was his team’s highest wicket-taker. The triangular series involved the Kiwis, the home team Australia and England. In the last and most important group match, Bond outsmarted England’s skipper Michael Vaughan with a perfect ball. The first ball that Vaughan faced turned out to be his last as the yorker stunned him to no end after rattling the stumps.

Bond at his best was a sight to behold in world cricket and the ball that removed the Englishman left him beaten for pace. The fast in-swinging ball zipped beneath his bat and onto the middle stump to bring jubilation for the Kiwis. This was a crunch game for both teams with the winner to meet the home team in a best-of-3 final series.

Bond’s spell that day was 4/46 in 10 overs however England managed to post 270/7 courtesy a hundred from Paul Collingwood. Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming led the reply with a classy ton however his team fell short by just 14 runs. England went on to script 2 famous wins over their arch rivals in the final series thereby taking the winner’s cheque home.

Watch: Shane Bond bowls a toe-crushing yorker to Michael Vaughan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhaJYlgqk4Y