Australia back on top of the world

Australia's confident 84-run win over West Indies has regained them the No. 1 one-day ranking from South Africa. Ricky Ponting's team was deposed from the top spot on the ICC table after losing the CB Series final to India, but the latest victory has pushed the young team ahead.

Australia had been defeated three times in a row in the format before Shaun Marsh's 81 set up the success in St Vincent and they have another chance to show their improvements in the second match in Grenada on Friday. It was a strong start from a squad that is rebuilding after the retirements of Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg, while Matthew Hayden is back in Australia with an achilles injury.

Brad Haddin, who scored a half-century in the opening win, has taken over from Gilchrist while Marsh stepped in for Hayden. Cameron White, the legspinner who went wicketless in six overs on Tuesday, and the back-up wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi are also part of the set-up in the Caribbean.

"It's a pretty formidable squad that we've got here with a lot of flexibility," Ponting told AAP. "The flexibility around our group at the moment is probably as good as I've seen it around the Australian team."