EVEN the most ardent Australian supporters arriving at the Adelaide Oval for yesterdays one-day match would have been excused for hoping West Indian captain Chris Gayle could recapture the destructive batting form that thrilled crowds in Perth and Canberra earlier in the summer. That he departed from the first ball of the match - and was followed back to the pavilion by three of his teammates within half an hour - was indicative of how anti-climactic this seasons one-dayers have been. But while this West Indies series is shaping as another whitewash for Australia, the national team is, admirably, still playing each match as if it is a World Cup. Two shining examples of that intensity came after it had reduced the visitors to 8-170 in sweltering conditions. First was Ricky Pontings direct hit from gully to run out Ravi Rampaul at the non-strikers end. Second, and probably moreso, was Mike Husseys full-length dive the very next ball at deep mid-wicket to catch top-scorer Dwayne Smith at ankle height, eclipsing the outfield catch famously taken by Glenn McGrath on the same ground against England eight years ago. Having kept the West Indies score under 200 for the second successive match, Australia in response coasted to 2-171 to secure a eight-wicket victory with 23.3 overs to spare. Ponting (57 off 55 balls) and Michael Clarke (27 off 28) finished the job, but opener Shane Watson (53 off 50) laid the platform for the ruthless chase. The most unfortunate aspect of the efforts of Ponting and Hussey in the field, Doug Bollingers 4-28 with the ball and then the dashing batting was that there were so few spectators there to see it. Construction works have limited the Adelaide Oval to a maximum of 17,000 spectators but the crowd - 8378 - was less than half that capacity, further tarnishing the reputation of one-day cricket. Gayle, having again won the toss but this time deciding to bat first, departed when he was slow to counter a ball angled in to off-stump from Bollinger and was trapped leg-before. It was the first of four wickets that gave Australia a record start with the ball. Travis Dowlin and Lendl Simmons both fell to faint edges behind to Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, while opener Runako Morton became Bollingers second leg-before victim - and all within the first seven overs of the match. The West Indies capitulation in compiling only 16 runs beat Australias previous record for snaring an opponents first four wickets, previously 4-17 shared by Kenya in 2002 and Zimbabwe in 2004. Narsingh Deonarine and Denesh Ramdin lifted the gloom surrounding the West Indies innings by hitting eight boundaries in the next 10 overs, until their 46-run partnership was ended in bizarre circumstances by umpire Billy Bowden. Mitchell Johnson appealed loudly when he struck the left-handed Deonarine on the pads at shin height but stopped when Bowden walked away from the non-strikers stumps as the batsmen attempted a leg-bye. Eight seconds after the delivery, as Deonarine reached the non-strikers end, the quirky New Zealand umpire walked the two metres back to his position and raised his finger. While the decision was correct it was comical because Johnson was not even looking at him, seemingly resigned to his appeal having been rejected. Kieron Pollard, having been pushed down a slot in the batting order because of the early collapse, was then forced to come to the crease - and got a new partner when Ramdin departed in the 21st over to have the team stricken at 6-77. Pollard had made 32 at not much worse than a run a ball when, as with the first match, he fell trying to hit over the long-on boundary, again caught by Johnson. The West Indies were facing a sub-150 total when No. 9 batsman Nikita Miller fell with the score on 125 but Smith and Rampaul combined for stand of 45 off 48, until halted by the superb fielding of Ponting and Hussey. In response the Australians needed fewer than 3.5 runs per over but openers Watson and Shaun Marsh - and later Ponting too - batted as if it were double that. Left-handed Marsh took the spotlight early with some exquisite straight drives off pacemen Kemar Roach and Rampaul but squandered his positive start when, on 27, he chopped onto his stumps from the medium-pace of Smith. Watson used the dismissal as his cue to take over. Having been only 22 when Marsh departed in the ninth over the right-hander plundered six boundaries and a six within the next four overs to reach his half-century from 42 balls and take the team score 1-87 only 13 overs in. Watson was caught behind for 53 on the first ball after the bowling powerplay ended but the fact he walked off smiling was telling. SCOREBOARD WEST INDIES innings CH Gayle lbw b Bollinger 0 RS Morton lbw b Bollinger 4 TM Dowlin c Haddin b McKay 2 Simmons c Haddin b Bollinger 1 N Deonarine lbw b Johnson 23 D Ramdin c Haddin b Watson 30 Pollard c Johnson b Bollinger 32 DR Smith c Hussey b McKay 43 NO Miller c Marsh b Hauritz 6 R Rampaul run out (Ponting) 18 KAJ Roach not out 0 EXTRAS: (lb 4, w 4, nb 3) 11 TOTAL: (all out; 39.4 overs) 170 Fall: 1-0, 2-11, 3-11, 4-16, 5-62, 6-77, 7-114, 8-125, 9-170, 10-170 BOWLING Bollinger 8-2-28-4-3.50(2nb, 2w) Johnson 8-0-36-1-4.50(2w) CJ McKay 7.4-1-33-2-4.30(1nb) SR Watson 6-1-24-1-4.00 NM Hauritz 10-0-45-1-4.50 AUSTRALIA innings Watson c Ramdin b Roach 53 SE Marsh b Smith 27 RT Ponting not out 57 MJ Clarke not out 27 EXTRAS: (w 6, nb 1) 7 TOTAL: (2 wickets; 26.3 overs) 171 Fall: 1-51, 2-99 BOWLING Roach 6-0-44-1-7.33(1nb, 1w) Rampaul 6-0-36-0-6.00(1w) DR Smith 4-0-28-1-7.00(1w) NO Miller 5-0-24-0-4.80(1w) KA Pollard 4-0-28-0-7.00(1w) N Deonarine 1.3-0-11-0-7.33