It was the first match of the 2000-01 Carlton Series of one-day internationals. But it was barely distinguishable from the Test series which went before it. Amid sweltering heat, Australia crushed West Indies by seventy-four runs to claim victory in the opening 'contest' of this triangular tournament here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

On a day during which the temperature ascended to forty degrees on the Celsius scale, the Australians' play had the same glow of discipline and efficiency about it that it has carried for so much of this summer. But, for as hot as it was, so their opponents' form was icy cold. Glacial even.

Theoretically, there was much to which to look forward during the course of this match. A shift away from a largely lopsided and predictable Test series to the potentially more exciting one-day international arena should have brought with it new possibilities and new challenges for each of these two teams. Alas, it merely allowed the Australians to saunter to victory again.

As the pipe-opener to something more enthralling, it was a damp squib. Once the Australians had overcome the inconvenience of losing Adam Gilchrist (7) to an impetuous stroke in the match's third over, the West Indians barely seemed to make an effort to thwart them. Instead, their bowling, fielding and their batting became part of an exercise in damage limitation.

Following Gilchrist's hasty exit - as he tried to lift a Cameron Cuffy (2/45 off nine overs) delivery over the leg side only to balloon the shot in the direction of third man - Ricky Ponting (73) and Mark Waugh (51) joined to add 111 in partnership in the space of 134 deliveries. It was an association that made light of any difficulties that might have been posed on a slowish MCG pitch that has offered encouragement to new ball bowlers all season. Neither found too many difficulties in piercing the field; through the opening fifteen overs, a succession of strokes were slammed over the infield and, later, shots were cleverly eased into yawning gaps that were paradoxically created as West Indian captain Jimmy Adams sought to discover a method of imposing more restrictive field settings.

A way through for the West Indians finally came via a lazy stroke from Waugh at the medium pace of Laurie Williams (2/39 from eight overs) in the twenty-fifth over. A further trickle of breakthroughs in the overs thereafter also helped retrieve the cause to an extent. But the tourists did not really help themselves; only a wonderful catch from Ricardo Powell at deep mid wicket to remove Ponting and a fine running interception from Nixon McLean at third man to remove Gilchrist assisting eliminate the stains on a copybook blotted by erratic bowling and sloppy ground fielding. Matters in the field became so unpleasant, in fact, that Williams even had to depart the arena in the forty-ninth over after his attempt at backward point to leap and catch a mistimed cut by Andrew Symonds (38*) resulted in him crashing head first into the MCG turf.

In truth, the Australians didn't completely capitalise as they might have done upon their victory at the toss. Wickets were thrown away needlessly in the middle and latter stages of the innings in particular: Mark Waugh (51) lobbed a stroke to long on; Michael Bevan (17) failed to ground a cut shot; Ponting (73) mistimed a pull; and, Steve Waugh (29) presented a regulation catch to long off. Notwithstanding the impact of a half-century stand at the end between Damien Martyn (42) and Symonds, fewer runs came from the closing overs of the innings than might originally have been expected too. But, virtually from the moment that Ponting and Waugh came together in the third over of the innings, things still flowed smoothly Australia's way.

It was an impression reinforced by a terrible start to the West Indian innings - one that quickly settled any lingering doubts about the way in which the match was headed. There was nothing startling in the opening bowling of either Glenn McGrath (1/7 off six overs) or debutant Nathan Bracken (1/30 from nine) as the West Indian response began. But it was made to look as though the pair was bowling on a minefield; poor shots from openers Wavell Hinds (1) and Sherwin Campbell (4) leading to a disastrous early decline that condemned the tourists to the mark of 2/9 as they pursued the Australians' 6/267.

Hinds was dismissed after being drawn into driving at a delivery wide of off stump from McGrath and playing uppishly into the point region. Campbell failed to last much longer and was, in fact, guilty of playing an even more irresponsible shot. He chased a short, wide delivery from Bracken and attempted to play a scything shot through point. Instead, a ball that he could have planted to virtually any part of the ground ended in the hands of Bevan at third man.

That set the scene for a period of inactivity from a West Indian point of view so chronic that it looked as though they have already resigned themselves to the exercise of trying to play for second place in a triangular series that also involves Zimbabwe. At number three, Brian Lara (28) issued a few typically daring strokes through the field but he was restrained in his shot selection for the most part. Youngster Marlon Samuels (57) did what he has done for most of the tour and unleashed a rearguard action. Williams (26*) and Adams (25*) also fought determinedly toward the end. But by that stage there were simply no battles of any consequence left to fight.

"We knew we had them in big trouble after ten overs," said Steve Waugh of his opponents' grisly predicament.

Like a vulture, Symonds (4/35 from ten overs) helped himself to the spoils with his nagging off spin. Even a slightly nervous-looking Shane Warne (0/38 off ten) was allowed to slip his way seamlessly back into international cricketing ranks. Australia's entire attack, based around just three specialist bowlers, encountered very few problems.

"Their body language wasn't that great," added Waugh in a masterful piece of understatement about his rivals.

"They probably dropped a couple of catches which could have been costly. If they'd taken those catches, we might have only made 230 and it would have been a different game."

Three hundred matches into his one-day international career, it's doubtful that Waugh could have experienced too many easier, or too many more predictable, victories. It was amazing that so many of the 56732 people who came to the ground stayed until he and his team formally completed the job.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd