West Indies' captain Brian Lara leaves the field after his dismissal during their Super Eight match against New Zealand in St. John's, Antigua, yesterday. - Reuters

Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua:

IT IS said that lightning does not strike the same place twice and that may well be so, if lightning and batting can be compared, it is definitely not so with the West Indies batting.

In fact, following its disappointing performance on Wednesday, the West Indies batting has not only failed at the same place twice, it has also failed, not for the first time, in back-to-back performances.

Embarassing performance

After a disastrous and embarrassing performance on the previous day against Australia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in St. John's in the opening match of the Super Eight round of the Cricket World Cup, the West Indies turned up at the same venue yesterday and, in brilliant sunshine, on a good pitch, produced yet another disastrous and embarrassing batting performance and in the process crashed to defeat against New Zealand.

Batting first in their second match of the round after New Zealand had won the toss and sent them to bat, the West Indies, lined up by fast bowler Shane Bond - three for 31 off 8.4 overs, medium-pacer Jacob Oram - three for 23 off eight, medium-pacer Scott Styris - one for 25 off 10, and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori - three for 39 off nine, were shot out, all 11 of them, including six specialist batsmen, two batting all-rounders and a wicketkeeper/batsman, for 177 in 44.4 overs.

In reply, against two specialist bowlers, two batting all-rounders, one part-time bowler and one batsman who bowls occasionally, New Zealand, after losing a wicket in the first over of their innings, chipped to 179 for three off 39.2 overs to win the match with seven wickets in hand, with 10.4 overs to spare, and with Styris and Craig McMillan not out on 80 and 33 respectively.

Points up

In winning the match, New Zealand, who carried two points from the first round, are now on four points from one match in the second round, while the West Indies, who also carried two points from the first round, are now on two points from two matches and in trouble.

Going into the match with a team top heavy with batsmen but starting cautiously and timidly with Christopher Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul scoring 14 runs off the first seven overs, the West Indies lost their first wicket at 14 in the eighth over when Bond, bowling at a nice clip, nicked the edge of the left-handed Chanderpaul's bat and Styris at second slip did the rest.

West Indies Innings

C. Gayle b Oram	44
S. Chanderpaul c Styris b Bond	4
R. Sarwan c McCullum b Oram	19
M. Samuels c McCullum b Oram	9
B. Lara c McCullum b Styris	37
D. Bravo c McCullum b Bond	18
D. Ramdin c Oram b Vettori	15
L. Simmons not out	14
D. Smith b Vettori	8
D. Powell lbw Vettori	0
C. Collymore b Bond	0
Extras: (1b, 5lb, 3w)	9
TOTAL: (all out - 44.4 overs) 177Fall: 1-14, 2-66, 3-78, 4-81, 5-128, 6-150, 7-158, 8-176, 9-176, 10-177. Bowling: Michael Mason 6-2-14-0 (1w), Shane Bond 8.4-0-31-3 (2w), James Franklin 3-0-29-0, Jacob Oram 8-2-23-3, Scott Styris 10-1-35-1, Daniel Vettori 9-1-39-3. New Zealand innings S. Fleming run out (Lara)	45
P. Fulton b Powell	0
H. Marshall c Lara b Powell	15
S. Styris not out	80
C. McMillan not out	33
Extras: (1lb, 3w, 2nb)	6
TOTAL: (for three wkts - 39.2 overs) 179Fall: 0-1, 2-36, 3-77. Bowling: Daren Powell 10-2-39-2 (2nb, 1w), Dwayne Smith 5-0-24-0 (1w), Corey Collymore 9-0-43-0, Dwayne Bravo 8-0-32-0, Chris Gayle 6.2-0-35-0 (1w), Ramnaresh Sarwan 1-0-5-0. Result: New Zealand won by seven wickets. SUPER EIGHT STANDINGS	P	W	T	L	NR	Pts
Australia	2	2	0	0	0	4
New Zealand	2	2	0	0	0	4
Sri Lanka	2	1	0	1	0	2
South Africa	2	1	0	1	0	2
West Indies	3	1	0	2	0	2
England	1	0	0	1	0	0
Ireland	1	0	0	1	0	0
Bangladesh	1	0	0	1	0	0