Ricky Ponting (85*) and Darren Lehmann (80*) feasted against an attack who appeared incapable of bowling an over without it containing at least one bad ball. Both batsmen drove anything overpitched – and there was no shortage – back past the bowlers with savagery, and clinically exploited the width they were given. For Lehmann, who reached only his third Test fifty during the session, there will never be a better chance for a hundred.

Both also had one life. Shortly after lunch Ponting edged Merv Dillon to Ramnaresh Sarwan at first slip but the low – yet straightforward – chance was spilled. Lehmann's life came just before tea when he nibbled at a ball slanted across him by Vasbert Drakes and nicked it to wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh. It was a big edge but umpire Rudi Koertzen didn’t see it. It was a mistake, but West Indies could have few grumbles. In the morning they had benefited from two howlers.

Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden had got Australia off to a confident start when de Silva, lambasted after a string of dubious decisions in Guyana, struck. Dillon had two vociferous appeals for leg-before turned down by de Silva, both rightly as the ball had pitched outside leg stump. But, bowling over the wicket to the left-handed Langer, he again struck the pad as Langer looked to turn the ball to leg, again appealed and this time de Silva agreed. Langer departed for 25, and replays showed that the ball had pitched further outside leg than the two previously turned down (49 for 1).

With the first ball of his next over Dillon and de Silva struck again to dismiss Hayden lbw for 30, a virtual replay of the first wicket and just as poor an error of judgment from the umpire (56 for 2). Umpiring is a hard and unenviable job, but de Silva’s confidence appears to be shot and he needs a rest.

But rather than open up the floodgates, the injustices just made Australia more focussed, and a third shocking decision looked to be the only way West Indies would breakthrough again.

In fairness to Lara, whereas Australia had the luxury of naming the same side which won by nine wickets at Georgetown, West Indies had three changes forced on them. The biggest blow was the loss of Shivnarine Chanderpaul shortly before the start – he failed to shake off the knee injury he picked up at Bourda – and they brought in two players – David Bernard and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh – for their debuts. Only two of the West Indies side is over 30 and it bodes well for the future. The present, however, looks to be far more of a concern.

Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden had got Australia off to a confident start after Steve Waugh had won the toss, and although the first four overs had demanded respect, in the fifth Langer opened up. As Pedro Collins strayed from a tight line, Langer cracked four fours in five balls, two through the vacant third man area, and then Hayden got after Merv Dillon. Brian Lara shook his head and could do little but try to plug gaps opened up by his bowlers’ poor control.

Then Asoka de Silva, lambasted after a string of dubious decisions in Guyana, came to Lara’s aid. Dillon had two vociferous appeals for leg-before turned down by de Silva, both rightly as the ball had pitched outside leg stump. But, bowling over the wicket to the left-handed Langer, he again struck the pad as Langer looked to turn the ball to leg, again appealed and this time de Silva agreed. Langer departed for 25, and replays showed that the ball had pitched further outside leg than the two turned down by de Silva (49 for 1).

With the first ball of his next over Dillon and de Silva struck again to dismiss Hayden lbw for 30, a virtual replay of the first wicket and just as poor an error of judgment from the umpire (56 for 2). Umpiring is a hard and unenviable job, but de Silva’s confidence appears to be shot and he needs a rest.

Thereafter Australia were untroubled, although they made every attempt to avoid being struck on the pads. Ponting took some time to find his touch, but when he did he unleashed two superb fours off successive balls from Vasbert Drakes, Lehmann was typically aggressive from the start, and both batsmen will have had more testing times in the nets than they faced from West Indies in the hour before lunch. The only likely breakthrough came when a good throw would have left Lehmann stranded, but almost inevitably the ball was hurled wildly wide of the stumps.

Whereas Australia had the luxury of naming the same side which won by nine wickets at Georgetown, West Indies had three changes forced on them. The biggest blow was the loss of Shivnarine Chanderpaul shortly before the start – he failed to shake off the knee injury he picked up at Bourda – and they brought in two players – David Bernard and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh – for their debuts. Only two of the West Indies side is over 30 and it bodes well for the future. The present, however, looks to be far more of a concern.

While Australia were confident enough to name the same side that won by nine wickets at Georgetown, West Indies had three changes forced on them by injury, with two young players given their debuts. The inclusion of 20-year-old Carlton Baugh as wicketkeeper was a certainty once Ridley Jacobs withdrew on Tuesday; the other new face, David Bernard, was not in the original 15-man squad but was called-up when Jermaine Lawson pulled out with chickenpox.

But the eleventh-hour withdrawal of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had failed to recover from the knee injury he picked up in Guyana, was a serious blow to Brian Lara, only partially softened by the return of Ramnarine Sarwan.

West Indies 1 Wavell Hinds, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Daren Ganga, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Carlton Baugh (wk), 8 David Bernard, 9 Vasbert Drakes, 10 Pedro Collins, 11 Mervyn Dillon.