CAPE TOWN, South Africa, CMC:
CRIPPLED BY a poor decision that accounted for their captain, West Indies crashed to a humiliating 209-run defeat in the first One-day International cricket match against South Africa yesterday.
In being shot out for just 54 off 23.2 overs after the hosts rallied to reach 263 for four batting first, the visitors were again on the wrong side of new records as an eagerly-anticipated curtain-raiser to the five-match series turned into an embarrassing no-contest in front of a capacity 20,000 crowd at Newlands.
The score eclipsed the previous lowest total by West Indies in an ODI - 87 against Australia in Sydney 11 years ago - while the margin of defeat was the largest ever suffered by them in terms of runs as it obliterated the 138-run loss to Pakistan in Sharjah in 1999 as the previous standard for heavy Caribbean losses in the shorter version of the game.
After Jacques Kallis continued his remarkable run of form with an unbeaten 109 that lifted the hosts from the discomfort of 101 for four, West Indies' hopes of chasing down a challenging target effectively ended when Brian Lara was adjudged lbw for just two offering no shot to Andre Nel.
ERRED TERRIBLY
But even as the giant pacer celebrated his fifth dismissal of the champion left-hander with his teammates, television replays were showing that South African official Ian Howell had erred terribly as the delivery not only pitched outside the line of the leg-stump, but was also too high to validate the verdict.
With the ball continuing to seam about in the combination of lights and heavy overcast conditions, the visitors capitulated in such a swift manner that the vast majority of spectators could hardly savour the celebrations before it was all over.
The last seven wickets were blown away for just 16 runs with Lance Klusener making a sensational return to the South African team, taking three for nine.
Gibbs took one of the finest catches ever seen, diving full length to his left at backward-point to snare Vasbert Drakes off Ntini, coming up with the catch just millimetres off the ground. It was an effort that typified South Africa's overall effort, prompting Lara to acknowledge that his side was thoroughly outclassed.
"It was difficult batting second under lights, but the simple fact is that this was just not good enough," the West Indies captain admitted.
"We have no excuses. We just batted poorly. The one thing is that this is about the lowest we can get. We now have to work on improving for the next match at Port Elizabeth on Wednesday."
Graeme Smith conceded that the pitch was not the easiest to bat on, but praised his bowlers for a superb effort, singling out Klusener's performance and noting that they cannot afford to relax at any stage of this 10-day series.
"Port Elizabeth has been a sort of bogey ground for us in recent years, so we've got to get back down to earth quickly and get focused on the next match," he observed.
"Kallis and Rudolph gave a fantastic performance. They came along and got stuck in when we really needed it."
The two Jacques featured in a record unbroken 162-run fifth-wicket partnership that left the West Indies with a target that already seemed 40 runs beyond their best efforts given the nature of the pitch and the quality of the South African bowling.
Kallis, whose innings was his first ODI hundred on his home ground, was the inevitable choice as Man-of-the-Match, just another addition to his burgeoning collection of honours after scoring four hundreds in four Tests against the same opposition.
Ryan Hurley was the most economical of the West Indies bowlers, conceding 39 runs off his 10 overs of off-spin and bowling Smith for 53.
Lara's dismissal apart, no one else could offer any excuse other than the inability to cope with the situation.
Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ricardo Powell got into double-figures, Powell hoisting Klusener for a six over long-leg before becoming the all-rounder's first wicket in his opening over.
By then Chanderpaul had already departed and many were streaming out of the ground, matching the pace of the abysmal West Indian procession to and from the wicket.
