Centurion Smith squashes West Indies

South Africa 255 for 2 (Smith 103) beat West Indies 253 (Sarwan 72, Ntini 4-46)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Chris Gayle falls to a brilliant catch from Herschelle Gibbs © Getty Images

Since the end of the Test series, Graeme Smith has been in the news for what he may or may not have said to Dwayne Bravo in the closing stages of the bore draw in Antigua. But as one form of the game gave way to another, Smith carried on as he has done all tour, and let his bat do the talking. For the fourth international fixture in succession, Smith led from the front with a relentless century, and paved the way for an emphatic eight-wicket victory in the opening one-day international at Kingston.

Since an indifferent first Test in Guyana, Smith has now amassed 572 runs in six innings, including four centuries and a lowest score of 41. Furthermore, today's oeuvre - an imperious 103 from 102 balls, with 13 fours - was his fourth one-day hundred in eight innings, and seeing as he had not scored any in his previous 58 ODIs, that represents quite some breakthrough.

By the time Smith was dismissed, two balls after bringing up his hundred with a cut for four off Dwayne Smith, South Africa were home and hosed. A thunderstorm over the Blue Mountains had briefly raised fears that Messrs Duckworth and Lewis would be called upon to adjudicate, but thanks to a rollicking 131-run stand between Smith and Boeta Dippenaar, who revelled in a rare chance to open the innings, there was never any danger of South Africa being denied.

Dippenaar made 56 with seven fours and a six, after taking over from AB de Villiers, who enjoyed a superb run of form in the Test series. He was eventually extracted by the part-time medium-pace of Wavell Hinds, but by then South Africa were streets ahead on the run-rate. Shivnarine Chanderpaul's apathetic captaincy transmitted itself to the previously vocal stands, and as they began to empty long before the close, Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs had only to deal in singles. Gibbs eventually got bored and smacked two sixes in an over off Corey Collymore, before Kallis sealed the deal with two fours off the final two balls he faced.

Graeme Smith sealed the deal with his fourth one-day century © Getty Images

South Africa's rollicking start was in stark contrast to West Indies' early efforts, after they had won the toss. Their intent had been the same, particularly with Chris Gayle coming into the match with a career-best 317 under his belt, but their execution had been somewhat awry. Hinds was bowled early by Makhaya Ntini, whose first eight overs went for just 19 runs, but it was a stunning piece of individual brilliance from Gibbs that changed the game. His full-stretch left-handed pluck at short extra-cover, to intercept a Gayle exocet, was one of the catches of the year, and immediately drove West Indies into their shell.

A composed fourth-wicket stand of 106 between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chanderpaul paved the way for a belligerent finish from Dwayne Smith, who clubbed 46 from 37 balls, but by then they had once again been rocked by a brilliant piece of fielding - this time from Mark Boucher. Under a helmet and standing up to Shaun Pollock, Boucher pulled off a wonderful legside stumping as Sarwan flinched in his followthrough. It was the first time in his decade-long career that Pollock the fast bowler had suffered such an "indignity", but from the euphoric reactions of his entire team, he hardly seemed to mind.

Sarwan had top-scored with 72 from 111 balls, but without his ballast, West Indies' tail was all too easily extracted as five wickets fell for 21 runs. Dwayne Smith lost his middle stump to a loose swing at Langeveldt, Bravo holed out to long-off, and when Pedro Collins ran himself out while attempting to distract the umpire from an lbw appeal, the end of the innings followed swiftly. A total of 253 was some 30 runs short of par, but as Graeme Smith showed, not even that could have restricted South Africa.