Australia Thrash West Indies by 113 Runs

Melbourne: Two days after clean-sweep against Pakistan, Australia posted 113-run victory over West Indies in the first ODI of the five-match series in Melbourne.

Comprehensive win by Australia as they crush hapless West Indies by 113 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the 5 ODI series. Shane Watson was the man of the Match for his all-round performance.

West Indies sent Australia to bat after winning the toss hoping to make the use of the grass on the wicket but Australia limped to 256, which was much below what Ponting might have expected.

Watson was off to a cautious start scoring 59 runs with just 3 boundaries in it. Ponting scored 49 as the duo shared a 85 runs partnership.

Chasing 257 runs, West Indies never seemed in the hunt for victory as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Pollard top-scored with 31 runs.

Hauritz picked 3 wickets. West Indies will have to rethink their strategy and put on a good fight to stop the rampaging Kangaroos.

Earlier, Australia have finished with 256 for 8 at the end of their 50 overs. The West Indies bowlers have done extremely well to restric Australia and prevent them from getting a huge total.

It could have been very different when Michael Clarke and Cameron White were at the crease for the hosts and they were getting ready to launch but their wickets in quick succesion followed by some quality line and length bowling did the job. Kieron Pollard was the pick of the bowling with his figures of 3-45.

Brief scores
Australia: 256 for 8 (Watson 59, Pollard 3-45)
West Indies: 143 (Pollard 31, Harris 3-24, Hauritz 3-28)
Results: Australia won by 113 runs
MOM: Shane Watson (Australia)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
West Indies vs Bangladesh - 3rd T20I Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan - 2nd ODI South Africa vs Pakistan - 2nd ODI 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 21, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan - December 22, 12:00 GMT 3rd Test - Australia v India at Brisbane Match drawn 2nd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 27 runs

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