SOUTH Africa laid down a World Cup marker after AB de Villiers struck a composed century in a comfortable seven-wicket win over the West Indies in Delhi.
The West Indies flattered to deceive, batting well in patches before succumbing to an all-too-familiar collapse and ending up, with 222 all out, some way short of a par total.
Early strikes to reduce South Africa to 20 for two gave the West Indies hope, but de Villiers and Graeme Smith steered them out of any trouble and on to a straightforward opening win in Group B.
In a further blow to the West Indies, Dwayne Bravo went over awkwardly on his knee while bowling and had to be taken to hospital for a scan.
Graeme Smith admitted that he would not have minded losing the toss, unsure about a Delhi pitch which promised runs but yet had patches of green grass.
His decision to bowl – and to throw the new ball to spinner Johan Botha – paid instant dividends, though, when West Indies danger man Chris Gayle was caught behind third ball to a thin edge which Jacques Kallis grabbed.
Darren Bravo might have followed three balls later as South Africa reviewed a rejected appeal against him – but having been struck a whisker outside the line, he remained, and forged a healthy partnership with Devon Smith.
The younger of the two Bravos was the aggressor, blazing fours with flair while Smith anchored the innings.
Smith tried spin and pace, but Bravo looked equally comfortable against either as he strode to a half-century, but having fallen to a leg-before decision against Botha after adding 73 of the West Indies’ total of 113 runs, the first of two collapses followed.
Smith was next to go, pushing a return catch to Proteas debutant Imran Tahir, before the spinner struck again to trap Ramnaresh Sarwan, who used up the second of the reviews available to the West Indies.
Veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul plodded on, stopping the rot in partnership with Dwayne Bravo, who renewed the momentum for the West Indies with three lusty blows over the leg side for six.
But a calamitous run-out accounted for Bravo, with Chanderpaul calling an unlikely single and Bravo jogging rather than racing to the danger end.
That precipitated another collapse, and the West Indies failed to recover, with Dale Steyn and Tahir mopping up the tail as the last six wickets fell for 44 runs.
The West Indies emulated South Africa and opened with spin from Sulieman Benn and pace from strike bowler Kemar Roach.
Both struck early blows – Devon Thomas clinging on to an excellent caught-behind which accounted for Hashim Amla, and Kallis falling shortly afterwards to an edge off the bowling of Benn.
But when Smith, far from his most fluent, was joined by de Villiers, the pair steadied South Africa, and together they put on 119 to break the West Indies resistance.
Darren Sammy turned to the medium pace of Dwayne Bravo, but once he lost his talisman to injury, and with Roach and Benn already having used half of their overs, he had little left in the armoury than medium pace and Gayle’s spin.
Kieron Pollard beat Smith with a slower ball to deprive him of a fifty, but de Villiers and new partner JP Duminy continued the seamless progress.
It looked as if de Villiers would be denied a century when a shower arrived in Delhi while the batsman was still on 97, but a quick resumption meant that he reached a deserved ton – just as he had done in the corresponding fixture in 2007.
Duminy struck the winning runs with more than seven overs to spare, and South Africa join India and England with wins from their first games in Group B.
South Africa now have to wait eight days for their second game – against the Netherlands – but can go into that break with plenty of positives. (Eurosport)

WEST INDIES innings (maximum 50 overs)
C. Gayle c Kallis b Botha    2
D. Smith c and b Imran Tahir    36
D.M. Bravo lbw b Botha    73
R. Sarwan lbw b Imran Tahir    2
S. Chanderpaul c Peterson b Tahir    31
D.J. Bravo run out (Morkel/+de Villiers)    40
D. Thomas c Duminy b Tahir    15
K. Pollard lbw b Steyn    0
D. Sammy lbw b Steyn    0
S. Benn c Morkel b Steyn    6
K. Roach not out    2
Extras: (b-1, lb-3, w-11)    15
Total: (all out, 47.3 overs)    222
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-113, 3-117, 4-120, 5-178, 6-209, 7-213, 8-213, 9-213.
Bowling: Botha 9-0-48-2 (w-7), Steyn 7.3-1-24-3 (w-2), Morkel 8-0-35-0 (w-2), Kallis 3-0-21-0, Imran Tahir 10-1-41-4, Peterson 10-0-49-0.

SOUTH AFRICA (target: 223 off 50 overs)
H. Amla c Thomas b Roach    14
G. Smith b Pollard    45
J. Kallis c Sammy b Benn    4
A. de Villiers not out    107
J. Duminy not out    42
Extras: (lb-10, nb-1)    11
Total: (3 wkts, 42.5 overs)    223
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-20, 3-139.
Bowling: Benn 10-0-51-1, Roach 8-0-42-1, D.J. Bravo 2.1-0-12-0, Sammy 8-0-40-0, Pollard 7.5-0-37-1 (nb-1), Gayle 6-0-26-0, Smith 0.5-0-5-0.
Points: South Africa 2, West Indies 0