Australia ran over a disappointing West Indies for an eight-wicket victory to earn a 2-0 lead

The Bulletin by Peter English09-Feb-2010Australia 2 for 171 (Ponting 57*, Watson 53) beat West Indies 170 (Smith 43, Bollinger 4-28) by 8 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson got Australia off to a strong start in the chase with a smooth 53•Getty ImagesAfter the match was effectively sealed from the first ball when Chris Gayle fell, Australia ran over a disappointing West Indies for an eight-wicket victory to earn a 2-0 lead. The tourists were out-classed by Doug Bollinger in the early stages and slumped to 4 for 16 before scrambling to 170, a total which was never going to be large enough.Australia were not intimidated and Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting skipped to half-centuries as the win came in the 27th over. West Indies actually did well to last as long as 39.4 overs in their innings in a poorly timed performance given the current debate over the relevance of the 50-over game.The format is attracting small crowds in Australia and delivered a record low ODI attendance of 8378 in Adelaide. The sprinkling that turned up to the Oval’s building site did get an outstanding performance from Bollinger on a surface with a touch more grass than usual, although it wasn’t responsible for the sad procession.The Australians showed how few problems the pitch held when Watson took control from the opening over. Nine came from Kemar Roach’s effort, including a four down the ground from a free hit and a slice through point. As usual, Watson was strong driving and pulling, heaving a six to midwicket off Dwayne Smith, but he was surprised into an edge behind off Roach and went with 53 off 50.Shaun Marsh had already gone, once again leaving after a useful start, this time playing on to Smith on 26 to end a 51-run opening with Watson. It was not a dismissal which concerned the hosts and Watson was the only other blemish.Ponting came in and took some revenge on Roach, the man who tenderised his left elbow in December, with a hook and a drive for boundaries. He also lifted Nikita Miller for six over cover in an over costing 15 and pulled Kieron Pollard for six as he eased to 57 off 55 balls. Ponting and Michael Clarke (27) secured the win following some handy batting practice. It had been that easy for Australia throughout the day.Bollinger knocked over West Indies’ top order during a horror start for the tourists after Gayle won the toss in temperatures in the high 30s. The visitors were four-down in the seventh over and it was only a few moderate contributions from the lower half, which was led by Smith’s 43, that stopped a complete disaster.Bollinger had 3 for 9 in his first five overs and returned in his second spell to grab the dangerous Pollard on the way to 4 for 28. He began by picking up Gayle – for the fourth time this season – from the opening ball with a full delivery that hit his back leg. Gayle was slow to leave, thinking he was outside off stump, but he was in line in what was a heavy blow for the tourists and they never recovered.Life without their captain contributing isn’t much fun for West Indies and they were soon flapping about as Bollinger and Clint McKay stepped in. Travis Dowlin (2) tried to leave but pulled away too late to McKay and in the next over the tourists were 3 for 11 when Runako Morton was Bollinger’s second lbw. Instead of consolidating there was more crumbling and Bollinger got his third victim with Lendl Simmons’ prod at one going away.Narsingh Deonarine and Denesh Ramdin (30) accepted the unenviable task of resuscitating their side and provided some hope for 46 runs. However, the bright partnership ended when Billy Bowden took eight seconds to rule the correct lbw of Deonarine to Mitchell Johnson. The foggy Bowden walked away to the legside before returning to the stumps to raise his finger, by which time Deonarine (23) had already completed what he thought was a legbye.The Australians celebrated again when Watson watched Ramdin glide a third catch to Brad Haddin and West Indies were 6 for 77. Pollard added 32 before his leading edge in the 29th over, leaving Smith as the last one capable of making an impact. Smith held things together during a 63-ball rearguard and his haul included a massive straight six off McKay that landed on one of the many empty seats.Helped by 33 in the batting Powerplay, Smith and Ravi Rampaul (18) put on 45 before Rampaul was run-out by Ponting’s direct hit. The innings ended when Smith’s towering strike to deep midwicket was taken by a diving Michael Hussey, as Australia finished the session as well as they started it.West Indies had trouble in the opening match, which they lost by 113 runs, and they did not bother about changing their line-up. They will have to do something significant before Friday’s third contest in Sydney to save the five-match series from being decided with two games remaining.