ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Struggling West Indies continued their wretched slump with a comprehensive 66-run defeat to South Africa in the opening One-Day International of the five-match series here yesterday.

Set a daunting 282 to win the match and transform their losing fortunes, the regional side could only reach 215 all out off 44.1 overs, their third straight loss after defeats in the opening Twenty Internationals earlier in the week.

Talismanic captain and opener Chris Gayle lived a charmed life in top scoring with 45 while Kieron Pollard smashed a robust 44 down the order, but both efforts were in vain.

Lanky fast bowler Morne Morkel snatched three for 40 including the scalp of Gayle while speedster Dale Steyn (2-37) and medium pacer Ryan McLaren (2-37) finished with two wickets apiece.

Earlier, centuries from Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers had stunned West Indies and left them chasing a challenging target at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium.

Both batsmen posted knocks of 102 as South Africa, sent in to bat, tallied 280 for seven off their allotted 48 overs.

Match officials were forced to reduce the number of overs after rain delayed the start of game by half hour and then interrupted again after six overs were bowled.

Under the Duckworth/Lewis Method, West Indies were asked to chase two more than the South Africans made.

Their pursuit of that target started bleakly when they lost Andre Fletcher for three with the score on four in the third over of the innings. The run-starved right-hander nicked Steyn to Jacques Kallis at second slip to ensure his drought continued.

Gayle and Dwayne Bravo entertained with a 40-run, second wicket stand off 29 balls, to offer the Windies some hope. The left-handed Gayle hammered eight fours off just 39 balls while Bravo smashed three fours in scoring 15 from 10 balls.

Gayle was not his usual clinical self, however, surviving two chances before he had scored 25. He was put down by debutant Ryan Miller at deep mid-wicket on eight off Steyn in the fifth over and then saw Amla spill a skier at mid-midwicket off McLaren when he had scored 22 in the eighth over.

Two balls later, McLaren finally got lucky when he had Bravo caught at the wicket and Gayle’s luck finally ran out in the 13th over when Johan Botha held on to another skied chance at 69 for three.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, who spent an agonizing 59 balls over 38, then repaired the damage in 61-run stand with left-hander Narsingh Deonarine whose 26 required 48 balls.

Deonarine hit a four and a six before falling to a tame sweep shot off off-spinner Botha in the 27th over and when Sarwan played on to the first ball of Morkel’s second spell, the Windies were wobbling at 140 for five in the 30th.

Pollard dominated a 52-run stand for the sixth wicket with Denesh Ramdin (17) as the Windies staged a last ditch effort. As expected, the strong, right-handed Pollard was the aggressor, smashing three fours off McLaren in the 38th over which cost 15, sending hope rippling throughout the Windies camp.

But a Steyn slower ball accounted for Ramdin playing on at 192 for six in the 39th over and that wicket sounded the death knell for the hosts, as they lost their last five wickets for 23 runs to end their victory bid.

Amla and de Villiers had laid the platform for South Africa’s total with a third wicket stand of 129, after captain Graeme Smith (18) and the prolific Kallis (1) had fallen cheaply to leave the visitors on 57 for two in the ninth over.

In his first innings on Caribbean soil, Amla stroked eight fours off 109 balls while de Villiers hit his second one-day hundred in the region off 101 balls with five fours and two sixes.

Amla dominated an opening stand of 53 off 41 balls before Smith sparred at a wide Bravo delivery and provided wicketkeeper Ramdin with an easy catch in the seventh over.

The dangerous Kallis dithered for seven balls over one before he top-edged a slash at Bravo to Ravi Rampaul at third man, attempting to free the shackles at 57 for two in the ninth over.

It left Amla and de Villiers to consolidate the innings against a West Indies attack that lacked penetration. Both batsmen were measured in their approach and though the big shots were few and far between, they kept the scoreboard ticking over with busy running between the wickets.

When Amla was bowled by Rampaul playing back in the 34th over, JP Duminy (15) joined de Villiers to add a further 54 for the fourth wicket to keep the Proteas on course for a large total.

The West Indies bowlers tightened the screws, however, and South Africa found difficulty in accelerating the scoring when it mattered most, while losing quick wickets.

Duminy was bowled by Rampaul giving himself room in the 42nd over and it triggered a slide where South Africa lost their next four wickets for 28 runs in the space of 37 balls.

de Villiers’ innings was ended by a fine catch by Sarwan, leaping high at point to haul in the right-hander’s smash square of the wicket off fast bowler Jerome Taylor.