Australia ease to victory in opener

A solid all-round performance from the hosts against an ordinary and inexperienced looking West Indies side gave them a comfortable victory in the first ODI.

Australia beat West Indies by a massive 113 run margin in the first ODI at Melbourne to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-ODI series as they continue their unbeaten run of results in ODIs from the series against Pakistan.

West Indies won the toss and elected to field first, which was a surprise decision on a good looking track. That decision seemed to be poorer as Australia got off to a solid start, adding 50 runs in the Quick start overs without losing a wicket and seeing off the new ball. Shane Watson led their charge at the top with a well paced half century. The good work was carried on by skipper, Ricky Ponting who finished one short of a well deserved fifty. The good work in the middle overs saw them enter the Extreme Performance overs on 188 with Cameron White and Michael Hussey in the middle. But the West Indies’ fast bowlers bowled in the right areas in the death overs and made scoring difficult, reducing Australia to 256 for eight at the end.

The West Indies had a tough task ahead as the pitch was starting to keep low and the ball was not coming onto the bat. They got off to a shaky start with Chris Gayle, Runako Morton and Travis Dowlin losing their wicket in consecutive overs, reducing the visitors to 34 for three at the ten over mark. The fell further back when Johnson picked up Narsingh Deonarine. Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard tried to keep their hopes alive with a 64 run stand for the fifth wicket but things fell apart very quickly once Hauritz got rid of Pollard. They fell like a pack of cards and were eventually bowled out for just 143 in just the 35th over.

Shane Watson was adjudged Man of the Match for another impressive all-round showing.