Kuala Lumpur, Sep 13 (IANS) Michael Clarke cracked a fabulous 81 and Shane Watson captured four wickets to guide Australia to a 78-run win over the West Indies in the opening DLF Cup triangular series match here Tuesday.

West Indies, chasing Australia's 279 for nine wickets in 50 overs, were bowled out for 201 in 34.2 overs, despite a fine 92 by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and 58 from Chris Gayle.

Watson was named the Man of the Match for his bowling effort.

The second match of the cup will be played between India and the West Indies Thursday at the same venue, the Kinrara Oval.

West Indies' defeat also meant that Chanderpaul's excellent knock and Jerome Taylor's three-wicket haul went waste in the day-night affair.

Besides Clarke (79 balls, 9x4s), captain Ricky Ponting scored a brisk 56 (54 balls, 9x4s) after Australia opted to bat.

The Australians lost their first wicket cheaply with just nine runs on the board. Phil Jacques was the first to depart after being bowled out by Fidel Edwards after making just two runs.

Then opener Simon Katich (36) and Ponting put on a 97-run partnership for the second wicket. The Aussie captain brought up his half-century off just 49 balls that included nine hits to the fence.

But in the very next over Ponting was out leg before the wicket to Ian Bradshaw. The ball landed on middle and off-stump and held its line to fool the Australian captain.

Bradshaw again struck in the 26th over, this time to remove Katich. The opener misjudged the delivery a spooned the ball towards mid-off where Dwayne Bravo took the catch.

Clarke then stole the show mesmerising the young West Indian bowling attack. His innings lasted 79 balls and included nine boundaries.

Michael Cosgrove chipped in with 34 and he was associated in a 69-run partnership with Clarke for the fourth wicket.

The stand was broken in the 37th over when Cosgrove tried to hit Smith through the line but ended up giving a catch to captain Brain Lara at mid-off with the total at 191.

Watson followed him soon when he was out for just two. He also fell to Smith and was caught by Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Clarke kept one end going and was able to get boundaries with ease. But off the last ball of 47th over he was bowled out by a slower delivery from Bravo.

Taylor struck with the next ball, dismissing wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (24). Three balls later he removed Nathan Braken (1).

Dan Cullen and Glenn McGrath remained unbeaten on two and one respectively.

Chasing, Gayle and Chanderpaul gave West Indies a rollicking start with their 136-run opening-wicket stand.

Chanderpaul fell eight short of what could have been his fourth century and Gayle made a breezy 58 in just 46 ball, which included seven fours and two sixes.

Both the lefthanders were a treat to watch - especially Chanderpaul who was on a rampage and hit 10 fours and four sixers.

Watson struck to break the partnership by getting rid of Gayle. The lefthander gave a catch to Jaques in the point area.

Johnson produced a short of a length delivery, which Chanderpaul failed to handle and gave a thin edge to Haddin.

His departure triggered a collapse of the West Indies middle order as eight batsman failed to get to the double figure mark.

Lara was out for one while his deputy Sarwan made 22. Johnson trapped the West Indies captain leg before the wicket while Sarwan was out pulling a short ball off Watson and was caught at short mid-wicket by Ponting.

SCOREBOARD

First one-day international, DLF Cup triangular series, Australia vs West Indies, Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur (day/night), Sep 12

Australia:
Phil Jaques b Edwards 2
Simon Katich c Bravo b Bradshaw 36
Ricky Ponting lbw Bradshaw 56
Michael Clarke b Bravo 81
Michael Cosgrove c Lara b Smith 34
Shane Watson c Sarwan b Smith 2
Brad Haddin b Taylor 24
Mitchell Johnson b Taylor 15
Nathan Bracken b Taylor 1
Dan Cullen not out 2
Glenn McGrath not out 1
Extras (lb 8, w 17) 25
Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 279

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Jaques, 3.2 overs), 2-106 (Ponting, 20.6), 3-122 (Katich, 24.1), 4-191 (Cosgrove, 36.2), 5-205 (Watson, 40.5), 6-258 (Clarke, 46.6), 7-258 (Haddin, 47.1), 8-260 (Bracken, 47.5), 9-276 (Johnson, 49.2)

Bowling:
Ian Bradshaw 10-0-36-2 (3w)
Fidel Edwards 6-0-38-1 (2w)
Chris Gayle 8-1-37-0
Dwayne Smith 9-1-41-2 (3w)
Jerome Taylor 10-0-59-3 (4w)
Dwayne Bravo 7-0-60-1

West Indies:
Chris Gayle c Jaques b Watson 58
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Haddin b Johnson 92
Ramnaresh Sarwan c Ponting b Watson 22
Brian Lara lbw b Johnson 1
Dwayne Bravo c Jaques b McGrath 8
Wavell Hinds c Haddin b Cosgrove 2
Dwayne Smith c Haddin b Bracken 2
Carlton Baugh c Haddin b Bracken 0
Ian Bradshaw lbw b Watson 0
Jerome Taylor b Watson 0
Fidel Edwards not out 2
Extras (lb 2, w 7, nb 5) 14
Total (all out; 34.3 overs) 201

Fall of wickets: 1-136 (Gayle, 17.6 ov), 2-172 (Chanderpaul, 23.3), 3-176 (Lara, 25.1), 4-185 (Bravo, 28.1), 5-196 (Hinds, 30.2), 6-197 (Sarwan, 31.6), 7-198 (Baugh, 32.6), 8-199 (Bradshaw, 33.3), 9-199 (Taylor, 33.4)

Bowling:
Glenn McGrath 9-0-30-1 (6w)
Nathan Bracken 6.3-2-45-2
Mithchell Johnson 8-0-65-2 (1nb)
Shane Watson 8-0-42-4 (4nb, 1w)
Dan Cullen 2-0-16-0
Mark Cosgrove 1-0-1-1

Result: Australia won by 78 runs
Man of the Match: Shane Watson
Toss: Australia
Umpires Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and A.L. Hill (New Zealand)
TV umpire: M.R. Benson (England)
Match referee: B.C. Broad (England