Australia crush Windies in one-day international

Australia cruised to another comfortable one-day international win over a West Indies side looking increasingly out of their depth today.

The hosts now lead 2-0 following an eight-wicket win in Adelaide with three matches remaining.

Set a paltry 171 for victory, Australia cantered to victory in the 27th over with captain Ricky Ponting (57 not out off 55 balls) and his deputy Michael Clarke (27 not out off 28) leading the side home.

A belligerent 53 off 50 balls from opener Shane Watson ensured the run chase was going to be staged in cruise control while Shaun Marsh was the other early contributor with 27.

Doug Bollinger was named man of the match for his four wickets earlier in the day.

Australia got off to a bright opening after Kemar Roach bowled a no-ball from the first ball of the innings and Watson thrashed a boundary down the ground off the resulting free hit.

Marsh was also in a typically aggressive mood, pulling a Roach delivery for six in the third over.

The home side raced to 50 before Marsh chopped a Dwayne Smith ball on to his off stump.

It was another frustrating innings for Marsh who has struggled to make the most of his positive starts in the green and gold this summer.

The dismissal should have lifted Windies spirits but a tactical blunder by Chris Gayle saw the Australians continue their dominance.

Gayle called for the bowling powerplay and watched on as Australia smashed 42 runs off overs 11-15 - Watson's second six through the on-side the best of several highlights in this purple patch.

The end of the powerplay then signalled the demise of Watson who was caught behind pushing forward to a Roach delivery.

Ponting was joined by Clarke and the experienced duo took their time against Nikita Miller and Roach.

But they then went for the killer blow by calling for the batting powerplay in the 20th over - Ponting smashing some lusty hits off both pace and spin.

Earlier the tourists won the toss, elected to bat and slumped to 77 for six before some lower-order resistance helped them reach their modest tally.

Smith top scored with 43 off 63 balls and was the last man out - brilliantly caught by Mike Hussey in the outfield off Clint McKay - while Kieron Pollard (32 off 39) and Denesh Ramdin (30 off 42) got starts but couldn't hang around long enough.

The Windies have now occupied the crease for just 74 of a possible 100 overs in the first two matches of the series after being dismissed for 143 in the first one-dayer in Melbourne.

Bollinger did the early damage with an opening spell of three for nine off five overs and finished with four for 28.

McKay finished with two for 33 while Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz and Watson were the other wicket-takers.

The tourists were immediately on the back foot when Gayle was dismissed for a first-ball duck after shuffling across the crease to a Bollinger delivery.

Travis Dowlin replaced his skipper but he didn't last long after nicking a McKay delivery he tried to leave at the last minute.

Runako Morton became Bollinger's second lbw victim and in the seventh over the New South Wales quick struck again when Lendl Simmons edged a ball that left him off the pitch.

That left the visitors in all sorts of trouble at 16 for four.

Ramdin and Narsingh Deonarine's 46-run partnership and Pollard and Smith's 37-run stand added some respectability to the scoreboard but the wickets kept falling at the wrong time.

For Pollard it was the second time the all-rounder has been out in the 30s in this series which would have been disappointing for a man trying to convince the cricketing world he's not just a Twenty20 specialist.

Smith and Ravi Rampaul then decided aggression was the best way to counteract the Australians' pressure and for a while their approach worked.

A straight six from Smith off McKay was the highlight of the innings while Rampaul was swinging hard during his 18 off 22 balls.

But a slight hesitation in the running between wickets saw Ponting run out Rampaul and the next ball Smith was caught by Hussey.