By Chris Barclay of NZPA

Dunedin, Nov 27 NZPA - It had been scripted since Shane Bond was readmitted to cricket's establishment but New Zealand's leading fast bowler still described his test comeback as a touch "surreal" after starring at University Oval here yesterday.

The 34-year-old marked his first test in two years by taking four for 93. If he nabs one of the tailenders when play resumes he'll have his fifth five-wicket bag and go one better than Pakistani rival Mohammad Asif who celebrated a 25-month break from his test line-up with four for 108 from 34 overs of toil.

While Asif put his drug scandals and injury worries to one side by spacing out his wickets, Bond lined up his ducks in a row -- three victims in 10 balls -- as Pakistan were in mortal danger of folding well short of the follow-on mark of 230.

But they unearthed a current and future batting saviour in 19-year-old Umar Akmal, a diminutive right hander who punches above his weight -- 96 of his 129 runs on debut came from a varied collection of strokes that either reached or cleared the fence.

Umar and his brother Kamran (82) were responsible for New Zealand not already batting when day four gets underway. Pakistan were clinging on at 307 for eight at stumps, 122 runs adrift but with the security of knowing the follow-on was cleared with ease.

Given Bond's past frustrations as the clean up man after substandard test batting performances there was little wonder he felt slightly out of place yesterday.

After all New Zealand were in the ascendancy -- a rarity during his 17 previous tests -- and providing the batting card doesn't fold the home side are the only realistic winner's of the series opener.

While Bond was happy with his four-wicket haul, he probably took just as much satisfaction in New Zealand posting 429 in their first innings.

However, he remained circumspect about the situation.

"We're in a good position, hopefully we'll lead by 120 and then it's ours to set-up," he said. "(But) we can still lose the game if we bat poorly."

Bond's return from test cricket retirement and his stint with the rebel Indian Cricket League has been plotted since his ODI return against Sri Lanka in September.

He then emerged unscathed from Champions Trophy duty and the Twenty20 and ODI component of the Pakistan tour in a "neutral" United Arab Emirates before a rare four-day outing for Canterbury.

Bond bowled 40 overs in the course of that match last week to prove his fitness; another 24 yesterday suggested he was back in his prime -- clocking in the mid 140kph range and above, albeit with the assistance of a blustery tail wind.

"I didn't expect to bowl 24 overs so I'm pretty happy to come through that," he said.

"The body felt good the whole day and it's always nice to pick up wickets so I really enjoyed it."

Bond removed Mohammad Yousuf, Fawad Alam and Shoaib Malik in quick succession and then ended Umar Akmal's rollicking hundred close to stumps during his fourth spell.

"It's surreal in some aspects, weird being here playing a test," Bond admitted.

"There's still something special about test match cricket and its great environment to be back in."

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