South Africa's spinners kept the batsmen in check after Graeme Smith opted to bowl first at the Feroz Shah Kotla, West Indies reaching 118 for 3 after 25 overs. Johan Botha got rid of the
dangerous Chris Gayle in his very first over after he was asked to open the bowling and then returned to remove Darren Bravo for 73, stalling what had been a successful fightback, before Imran Tahir dismissed Devon Smith for his first international wicket.South Africa's leftfield selection of three spinners was backed up by their tactics from the start, as for the first time in his career Botha took the new ball in an ODI. The ploy paid off immediately as Gayle, who might have been preparing himself for a barrage from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, thrust his bat out at a flighted offspinner, the ball brushing the edge and nestling safely in Jacques Kallis's hands at slip.
Steyn's plan was clear as, with no slips in a spread field and protection at midwicket, he pitched it up and attacked the stumps with a hint of swing back in to the left-handers. He maintained eye-catching pace as well, generally sending the ball whistling through at well above 90mph, but Smith and Bravo played him with due caution and were soon ticking along nicely.
Bravo, who set the early tone with a couple of deftly glanced boundaries off Steyn, looked to impose himself on Kallis and slapped his first ball of the game disdainfully over wide mid-on. With Morkel getting the odd delivery to rise disconcertingly off the pitch, Smith offered solid support but did unfurl his trademark cut shot when given the chance.
Morkel's round-the-wicket offstump line troubled both left-handers at times but the luck appeared to be with West Indies and Bravo brought up a 55-ball 50 in the 16th over, his third in ODIs, and celebrated the milestone with a remarkable one-handed smite over long-on off Tahir.
While the innings was peppered with such flamboyance, there was no over-indulgence from either Bravo or Smith and after the field was set back placement and earnest running was the order of the day. The century stand was brought up off 117 deliveries in the 20th over, and with West Indies starting to assume full control Smith turned to Botha.
Again the offspinner provided the breakthrough, slipping one past an uncertain flick to pin Bravo in front of middle and dismiss him for 73 despite a slightly desperate referral from the batsman. The wicket seemed to unsettle Smith and, after playing the spinners with aplomb for much of his innings, he went too early at a flighted legspinner from Tahir to present the bowler with a simple caught-and-bowled chance - and a wicket on debut.
South Africa: 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Robin Peterson, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Imran Tahir
West Indies: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Devon Thomas (wk), 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Kemar Roach
