South African skipper Graeme Smith's fourth century in the last eight ODIs helped his team cruise to an eight wicket victory in the first one-day international at Sabina Park, Kingston (Jamaica). Chasing a target of 253, the Proteas never looked in any trouble whatsoever, putting the mediocre Windies attack to the swords.
 

Smith led from the front with shots all round the park. Known for his prominent on-side play in his early days in international cricket, the burly left-hander has shown on this tour that he is now a more complete player and can be equally effective on both sides of the wicket. And the results are there for everyone to see. After scoring three tons in the Test series, Smith continued the good work in the shorter version as well. After sharing many century partnerships with A B de villers in the Test matches, the captain opened the innings with Boeta Dippenar in the first ODI. But that did not make a difference as the two put together a match-winning partnership. Both Smith and Dippenaar scored at will as the Caribbean bowlers had simply no idea how to stop the run-flow. Except for Pedro Collins, who struck the outside-edge a couple of times, none of the others made any impression on the batsmen.
 

It finally took a rash shot from Dippenaar to bring an end to the fruitful stand, but not before the first wicket had yielded 131. Smith was then joined by Kallis and the duo kept up the good work. Kallis scored only two boundaries in his half-century, but still managed to score at a decent rate by rotating the strike regularly. On the other hand, Smith was in a hurry to finish off the game as soon as possible. And the West Indies bowlers helped him in every possible way, providing loose deliveries at will. The skipper raced to a run-a-ball century with a smashing drive outside the off-stump. He was dismissed soon after by his namesake Dwayne Smith while trying to go for yet another boundary.

But Smith's dismissal only brought the dangerous Herschelle Gibbs to the crease. And the talented Gibbs finished off the job his skipper had started with a whirlwind knock. His severe assault on the Windies bowlers must have certainly dented their confidence that is already so low

Earlier, the West Indies had yet another dismal start to their innings. Wavell Hinds, who seems to have lost form after his double hundred in the first Test, once again fell cheaply, dragging a Ntini delivery onto his stumps. But there were ominous signs for South Africa as Antigua triple centurion Chris Gayle threatened to plunder yet another big one. It required breathtaking one handed catch by who else but Herschelle Gibbs to send him back. The Proteas tightened their grip on the game when Lara fell to Andre Nel, holing out to Dippenaar in the deep.

It was once again upto skipper Chanderpaul to steady the ship. And he found an able ally in Sarwan as the two went about repairing the damage. Sarwan reached yet another half-century during the course of his innings. With deft touches and smashing strikes, he once again reaffirmed that here is a really talented cricketer whose not yet done justice to his potential. His skipper Chanderpaul may not be as gifted, but he makes up for it with his grit and determination. And he showed it once again in this game. It required a fiery Ntini delivery to dislodge the gentle giant. Losing their skipper one short of his half-century was a crucial blow for the Windies, considering the fragility of their lower order.
 

But the big turning point came with the dismissal of Sarwan. Looking good for a ton, Sarwan was stumped for 72 by Boucher off Pollock when he missed a delivery down the leg-side. The West Indies at that point were 191-5. Bravo came in and played a couple of good shots before perishing. Thankfully for the Caribbeans, Dwayne Smith came to their rescue. The emerging talent scored a brisk 46 with intelligent strokes to help them post a reasonable total. Unfortunately, he did not get any support from the other batsmen and the Windies folded up with seven deliveries left.
 

A score of 253 can be considered a challenging one. But with the kind of form Smith and co are in, as also the lack of quality in the West Indian attack, it proved to be a paltry total.