ST JOHN'S, Antigua - Captain Brian Lara hit a responsible half-century but it proved inadequate as Glenn McGrath and Brad Hogg combined to take six wickets and Australia romped to a comfortable 103-run victory over the West Indies in the first Super-8 match of Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 on Wednesday's reserve day.
 
Lara hit a composed 77 off 83 balls with eight fours and a six and Denesh Ramdin also registered a fighting half century as the Caribbean side plunged to their first defeat of the tournament.
 
Veteran seamer McGrath captured three for 31 and left-arm spinner Hogg took three for 56 as the Windies were bowled out for 219 responding to 322 for six the Australians made on Tuesday's rain-hit day at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
 
Beginning their innings Wednesday after rain prematurely aborted play the previous day, the hosts were quickly in trouble as openers Shivnarine Chanderpaul (5) and Chris Gayle (2) were back in the pavilion with only 16 runs on the board in the eighth over.
 
Speedster Shaun Taitt (2-43) struck with the 23rd delivery of the innings when Chanderpaul was adjudged leg-before-wicket with a ball that the TV replay showed may have been missing off-stump.
 
McGrath, whose three scalps took him to within one of Pakistan's Wasim Akram CWC record of 55 wickets in tournament history, dislodged Gayle with a short delivery that the left-hander skied to mid-on in the eighth over.
 
The pressure on the home side increased when the No.4 batsman Marlon Samuels recklessly skied a catch - charging at McGrath - to cover in the 10th over to make the score 20 for three.
 
Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who hit a laboured 29 off 58 balls, added a useful 71 with Lara for the fourth wicket but they were never on top of the bowling.
 
Sarwan virtually gave his wicket away when he picked up Ricky Ponting at mid-wicket, failing to dispatch Hogg's full toss as the fourth wicket fell at 91 after 26 overs.
 
Lara, who had already reeled off some well-timed boundaries including three fours off medium-pacer Shane Watson in the 22nd over, continued to watch as his team-mates departed from the other end.
 
McGrath claimed his third victim as Dwayne Bravo (9) - driving at a delivery he never got to the pitch of - found Ponting at cover 16 runs later.
 
But Lara found a useful ally in wicket-keeper Ramdin as they shared in stand of 49 for the sixth wicket before Lara departed. The captain misread Hogg's arm-ball, was struck full on the knee as he crouched to steer the ball fine, and departed in the 36th over lbw at 156 for six.
 
Before he departed, Lara launched Hogg over long-on for six and then miscued the next ball just short of the fielder but the bowler came back to get his revenge in the next over.

Hogg had Dwayne Smith (9) trapped lbw on the front-foot after the batsman had sent the previous delivery into the stands over long-on.
 
The 22-year-old Ramdin's well-played 52 off 43 balls with six fours ended when he edged left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken to the wicket-keeper as he was ninth out at 217.
 
Australia, back-to-back champions (1999 and 2003) then wrapped up the game when Tait bowled Darren Powell.
 
The home team will have to pick themselves up quickly as they take on New Zealand on Thursday while the Aussies await Bangladesh on Saturday here.

 

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