New South Wales was the first to do it. Then it was South Australia's turn. Even Tasmania had done it. So naturally, today was Western Australia's day. And didn't the Warriors do it in style!

Yes, Western Australia today became the fourth team this summer to grab a bonus point against Victoria when it won the Mercantile Mutual Cup clash here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with more than eleven overs to spare.

The win pushes the Warriors up to second spot on the competition ladder and at the same time ensures the Victorians languish at the bottom a little while longer.

Today, it all began with the all-important toss. The Bushrangers were losers even before a ball had been bowled. The MCG wicket has tended to contain a fair bit of moisture through the early stages of matches this summer and this was a toss captain Paul Reiffel could ill-afford to lose. Only last month, Reiffel lost the toss here to Tasmania and watched as his batsmen made a meal of the match. He lost again today and, within half an hour, his two openers were back in the pavilion.

After the match, Reiffel was seen having a chat to one of the groundsmen, clearly frustrated at the nature of the wicket. Asked about the conversation later, Reiffel said he was just trying to find out what the thinking was behind producing a pitch that offered a lot to bowlers in the early stages but grew batsman-friendly as the day wore on. Having seen Australia thump West Indies on a benign pitch here last Thursday, Reiffel was ruffled about the importance forced on the toss for domestic one-day matches at this ground.

"I haven't won a toss here in the Mercantile Mutual and they're crucial."

First ten, fifteen overs it's really hard to bat and I was a little bit frustrated. I saw the international here the other night and it was a belter, wasn't it? Except we turn up and there's moisture in the wicket every time and unfortunately, I keep losing the Mercantile Mutual tosses so it's been a bit disappointing," he said.

Coach John Scholes agreed.

"Without making any excuses, it was probably a little bit more difficult to bat this morning than this afternoon when the wicket had dried out a bit. Not that it was overly moist but there was a bit there for the bowlers this morning," he said.

However, both spoke of the need to improve the Bushrangers' one-day batting. In true 2000-01 Victorian fashion, another batting collapse ensued today, with Brad Hodge (84) offering the only real resistance. Hodge continued his sparkling form, belting nine fours en route to his third one-day fifty and second highest competition score of the summer. Batting to add respectability and substance to the team's display in less than ideal conditions, Hodge played brilliantly, ensuring the rapid ticking over of the scoreboard.

"He just stood out, didn't he? He came in today and was buzzing this morning. He told us he was going to bat all day and play well, so it was interesting to see how we went out there. And he just kept hitting fours. He's in great form - the one shining light in our batting line-up at the moment," said Reiffel.

For the Western Warriors on the other hand, batting was hardly a difficulty, with openers Justin Langer (57) and Ryan Campbell (57) compiling a 113-run partnership for the first wicket. Campbell struck the second ball of the Western Australian innings to the fence, and the Warriors never looked back.

Returning to the one-day fold in the absence of Damien Martyn, Langer seemed to thrive on today's outing, striking seven fours in his stay of two hours. Luck also favoured him today, with the usually scrupulous Darren Berry missing a stumping off Colin Miller early in his piece.

Playing his first representative match of the season, twenty-four year old left armer Ian Hewett (3/38) produced a good individual performance, snaring all three Warrior wickets. Reiffel praised his team's bowling at the end of the match, again ruing the fact that the total was barely defendable. "I thought we bowled really well out there today but there was just no scoreboard pressure," he said.

So, having won only one of its six domestic one-day matches so far this summer, Victoria is well and truly in the midst of a limited-overs crisis.

Coach Scholes hinted at changes in the line-up for the match against Queensland this Friday, saying the right formula would need to be found pretty soon.

Even though the season is pretty much over for the team, Scholes believes his charges need to go all out to try and win the remaining four matches.

"What we have to do is be very competitive and obviously get some respect back in that form of the game. We want to win every game we compete in and that's what we're setting out to do," he said.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd