Hussey inspires WA to big win

Two old stagers and three new names added up to five points for Western Australia as they began their ING Cup campaign with a comprehensive 99-run win over South Australia at the WACA in Perth.

After Murray Goodwin (58) and Michael Hussey (67) used all their experience to guide WA to their sizeable total of 293 for 5, the debutant Michael Thistle (3 for 32) and up-and-comers Beau Casson (4 for 31) and Peter Worthington (2 for 31) did the damage with the ball to secure the points.

A run-a-ball 54 from Andy Flower gave Redbacks fans a hint of what they can expect from their Zimbabwean import this summer, but it was WA's own Zimbabwean who made the real impact, this time with his bat not his mouth. Goodwin is facing a charge next week of making detrimental comments, after airing his views about the number of black players in the Zimbabwe side ahead of the recent Test series against Australia. Goodwin got his retaliation in first against the Redback bowlers, hitting eight fours in his 58 off 62 balls.

After the early loss of WA's new skipper Justin Langer for 11, Goodwin and Hussey put on 118 for the fourth wicket, giving WA's unheralded bowlers a decent canvas on which to work. Thistle, only in the side because of his state's bare bowling cupboard, will never forget his first over in WA's colours: he was hit for four first ball but took and a wicket with his second.

WA were without Paul Wilson, Darren Wates, Kade Harvey, Michael Clark, Brad Williams and Brad Hogg through injury and international call-ups, and Thistle - a towering 23-year-old - was welcomed to WA's first team by John Davison, who pulled him contemptuously to the boundary. Thistle's riposte was to have Davison, Canada's World Cup hero, caught in the gully next ball by a juggling Marcus North.

SA's captain Greg Blewett was Thistle's second victim, his tight line and length inducing a swipe which edged the ball to Langer at second slip. After Thistle's opening spell of 2 for 22, Flower showed Zimbabwe exactly what they are missing with an abrasive knock.

With Shane Deitz contributing a chancy 60 - he might have been run out three times if throws had hit the stumps direct - for a while SA looked as if they were going to make a fight of it. But after Worthington had Flower caught behind cutting too close to his body, caught Deitz off a top-edged sweep and then had rookie Callum Ferguson (4) also caught by the keeper, WA took control.

Casson's destruction of the tail with his left-arm spin gift-wrapped the bonus point for WA, last year's ING Cup finalists, and consigned the Redbacks to their 10th loss in their last 11 games in the competition.