It's debatable if major implications can be extracted from the first game of a season that spans close to six months. But, if there are any clues to be gleaned from New South Wales' crushing 123-run win over Victoria at the Bankstown Oval today, then they might point to the possibility of the onset of déjà vu.

This was last season's Australian domestic one-day champion against last season's wooden spooner. And, it has to be said, it looked a reflection of those respective standings all over again.

In fairness, Victoria's head-to-head record against the Blues has not been at all shabby in recent times. Before today, four wins had come in the sides' last five meetings.

But, as they did many times last season, the Bushrangers simply did not look sufficiently equipped to make an imposing score in a one-day innings.

After a disappointing start - when they conceded 44 runs inside the first six overs of the match - the visitors' bowlers and fielders performed their job stoutly enough in limiting New South Wales to a total of 9/256 in the opening session.

But, on a ground that offered a true pitch, a fast outfield and short boundaries, their top and middle order batsmen soon became the subjects of a dismal collapse. Moreover, it was a slide that left them embarking on another familiar custom from last season - namely, handing over a bonus point to their opposition.

Undone by pace bowling trio Don Nash (3/31), Stuart Clark (2/30) and Glenn McGrath (1/22), the visitors subsided to scores of 3/38 and then 6/69 at different stages of a chase that never seemed to move beyond first gear.

The state's new one-day captain, Matthew Elliott (4), has signalled there will be a more proactive approach in Victoria's limited-overs cricket this summer, but was instead forced to play reactively as he edged a ball of impeccable length from Nash low to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin's left. The rot soon set in.

Disconcerted by the early disappearance of their leader, Jason Arnberger (21) then flailed wildly at a Nash outswinger to balloon a catch to third man; Brad Hodge (8) was the victim of a brilliant low catch at first slip by Shane Lee off McGrath; and Michael Klinger (4) picked the wrong ball from Nash to seek to drive off the back foot.

Clark's accuracy ensured there remained little respite even after the new ball pairing had been parted.

A breezy cameo from Ian Harvey (24) ended when he spooned a slower ball to cover and Ben Oliver (0) was defeated by a classical yorker just two deliveries later.

Jon Moss (25), Shane Warne (25) and Darren Berry (17) prolonged the life of the match but there was no doubting the identity of its winner by then.

Earlier, New South Wales adopted something of a wasteful approach after the blazing start to its own innings, frittering wickets away at regular intervals.

The pattern was established when openers Haddin (21) and Mark Waugh (21) each fell to miscued attacking strokes in the space of three deliveries.

Lee (83) later mistimed a swipe at a waist-high full toss from Harvey (3/38); Michael Slater (35) lost patience after a watchful innings and hammered a catch to mid on; Michael Clarke (11) fished at a ball that seamed away; and Nash (10) dragged his back foot out of his crease in attempting to drive. To compound the spendthrift trend, there were also three run outs.

In Lee, though, they had a player capable of producing a sparkling and sustained innings. From early in his hand, the New South Wales captain was in command; a display peppered with shots into and over the boundaries on both sides of the wicket, his was the defining individual performance of the match. His effort was a study in concentration too, given that he was forced to devote himself to the task of holding the Blues' innings together from an early point in his stay.

Though he activated the possibility on two separate occasions by clubbing sixes early in an over, not even the lure of the competition's new million dollar jackpot (on offer to a batsman capable of swinging an accompanying six into one of four signs on the ground's square boundaries) swayed him from the job at hand.

That was one area in which Victoria did assume dominance.

The Bushrangers' chances of winning the match had long gone, but Warne raised the prospect of a big finish nonetheless when he pummelled a Stuart MacGill (2/32) full toss only a few metres over a sign at square leg that would have delivered the million dollar bounty.

ING's directors might, at that moment, have felt their hearts collectively skip a beat as they considered the prospect of giving away the prize in the very first match of the season.

Ultimately, though, they were spared a bad end to their day. The Bushrangers, by contrast, were not nearly so fortunate.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd