SAMMY ON A HIGH: Allrounder Darren Sammy can't contain his delight at having Michael Clarke caught behind cheaply. Ronnie Sarwan shares the delight. (Picture: Brooks LaTouche Photography.)

by HAYDN GILL in St Vincent

THE RESULT of the first One-Day International between West Indies and Australia here yesterday will remain a distant memory.

Australia won easily by 84 runs, but history will not be kind to St Vincent in the coming years. The match will long be remembered for an unwarranted bottle-throwing incident at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex that has left an ugly picture hanging over the region.

For the record, Australia made 273 for eight from their 50 overs against a seemingly absent West Indies team who could manage only 189 in 39.5 overs on a day when coach John Dyson said his team did not bat or bowl well enough.

If some of the packed ground can't remember the final scores, they will have a vivid account of the scenes that unfolded just before 5 p.m. when they protested the dismissal of Darren Sammy by hurling plastic bottles onto the field.

Replays showed that Sammy was bowled and that the ball had not come from the pad of wicketkeeper Brad Haddin to dislodge the bails, but the crowd didn't stand for it.

Vincentians had come in their numbers to have fun, but had to endure frustration instead on a day that was declared a national holiday.

The match was hardly competitive.

"We didn't bowll well enough. We didn't bat well enough. It's the truth" was coach Dyson's first response to the defeat.

"We have to regroup and rethink our approach and just work hard in the next couple of days to make sure we put up a considerably better performance in the next game. It is a series of five. It's not the end of the earth yet."

Apart from a brief period when they stopped Australia's early advance and fourth wicket half-century partnership, West Indies always looked like losers.

Even when Sammy and Denesh Ramdin were adding 52 from the ruins of 111 for six, the result was a forgone conclusion.

West Indies' response never offered any encouragement to the more than 9 000 fans in the stands.

The euphoria of winning the one-off Twenty20 International on Friday was short-lived. Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan missed that match and their return would have been welcomed.

Significantly, however, both were dislodged in the space of three balls inside the first ten overs and the match was as good as over.

By then, in-form Xavier Marshall was also back in the hut and from 29 for three, it was difficult to predict anything but a victory
for Australia.

Gayle thumped a few meaty blows, but still looked in discomfort with his prolonged groin injury before he was lbw shuffling across his stumps to Bracken.

When Sarwan fell to an edged catch at second slip from a nothing shot against Lee, it was over bar the shouting.

Dwayne Bravo (33) and debutant Andre Fletcher (26) looked the part in adding 51, but they would have had to convert their starts into something major if West Indies were to win.

Earlier, there were a few tactics from West Indies in the field that differed from what we are accustomed to.

For one, Gayle used the new ball with his off-spin, but pulled himself out after a solitary over.

Fidel Edwards replaced him and after three expensive overs, he didn't see the ball for the remainder of the innings.

Sarwan had as many as five overs with his leg-spin on a pitched that turned more and more into the innings.

At the same time, apart from Edwards, two other main bowlers, Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor were well short of completing their quota of ten overs.

With the surface spinning, the only two who bowled their full allotment were Gayle and Sulieman Benn.

Benn was the one who started to contain Australia's promising start that was provided by debutant Shaun Marsh who looked accomplished in hitting 81 off 97 balls.

Marsh and Shane Watson put on 75 in 12.5 overs at the beginning and after Australia's advance was checked, the effort was revived by Brad Haddin's 50 off 52 balls, Mike Hussey's 44 off 58 balls and their fifth wicket partnership of 91

When the stand was broken in the 45th over, West Indies managed to claim four wickets at the death, but by then Australia had more than enough runs.