Marsh makes hay

Shaun Marsh marks his debut for Australia with 81 at the top of the order

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Shaun Marsh struck 81 on his international debut as Australia moved back to the top of the International Cricket Council one-day rankings with a comfortable 84-run win against West Indies in St Vincent.

Marsh continued the excellent form he displayed during the Indian Premier League, where he was the leading run scorer, hitting seven fours and a six in his 97-ball innings.

Brad Haddin (50) and Michael Hussey (44) also shared a valuable 91-run stand for the fifth wicket, after a mid-innings stumble, to help Australia to 273 for eight.

In reply the Windies lost three early wickets to set them on the back foot and they never fully recovered in the face of some tight bowling. They were bowled out for 189 in 39.5 overs.

The victory for Australia - who wore pink ribbons in memory of former player Glenn McGrath’s wife, Jane, who died at the weekend - lifts the world champions above South Africa at the summit of the ODI rankings.

Brett Lee made the first of three early breakthroughs when Xavier Marshall, who sat out the majority of the Australia innings after injuring his shoulder making a diving save, thick-edged a rising delivery to Haddin.

Skipper Chris Gayle (20) soon followed him back to the pavilion when Nathan Bracken trapped him leg before and two balls later Lee had Ramnaresh Sarwan (two) caught by Hussey at slip. That left the Windies 29 for three and facing an uphill task.

Although Dwayne Bravo and debutant Andre Fletcher steadied the ship with a stand of 51, it came in slow time. Bravo eventually succumbed to the tourists’ accuracy when he fell lbw to Michael Clarke for 33.

Fletcher departed for 26 when he failed to recover his ground after defending a Cameron White delivery, allowing wicketkeeper Haddin enough time to pick up the ball and run him out with a neat piece of work.

Darren Sammy loses his bat evading a short ball as West Indies slip to an 84-run defeat

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The wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and the Windies never looked like keeping up with the required rate on a slow wicket at Arnos Vale.

Bracken, returning to action following knee surgery in March, claimed the final wicket when Sulieman Benn was caught at long-on by Clarke to finish with figures of 4-31.

Earlier, Marsh and Shane Watson, who was also making a comeback to international cricket after being out since last year’s World Cup, put on 75 for the first wicket before the latter was leg before shuffling across the crease to Bravo for a breezy 31 from 27 balls.

Captain Ricky Ponting and Clarke fell cheaply trying to engineer shots, Ponting playing on as he chased a wide one from Jerome Taylor and Clarke caught behind off Darren Sammy.

Marsh became just the eighth Australian to register a half-century on his ODI debut when he crunched Bravo through the covers, a shot bettered only by a glorious pull over the square-leg boundary off the same bowler earlier in his innings.

But when Marsh was fooled into offering a simple catch to Gayle at cover from a Sammy slower ball, Australia looked in some trouble at 140 for four.

Hussey led the recovery mission in a risk-free 91-run stand with Haddin. Haddin deservedly reached his fifty from as many balls before he was caught in the deep by Kieron Pollard off the bowling of Benn.

Hussey fell to the same combination following a patient 58-ball innings that contained just one boundary, but Lee provided the late fireworks, including a hefty six over midwicket.

The second game in the five-match series will be played at St George’s in Grenada on Friday.