West Indies captain Brian Lara defended his top-order batsmen despite the 103-run defeat to Australia yesterday in the World Cup Super Eights.

Opener Chris Gayle and number four Marlon Samuels both got out to poor shots as the World Cup hosts fell to 20 for three attempting to chase Australia's 322 for six from Tuesday's rain-affected play.

"I don't think anyone goes out there to play any rash shots and to get out. You could say that Chris Gayle tried to play a shot and it did not come off, he tried to pull the ball through mid-wicket.

"Marlon went for it over extra cover and sometimes, some days these might come off and people clap and say what a wonderful shot," Lara said.

The loss of the early wickets left the hosts facing a near-impossible task and Lara lamented the batting performance in the opening 10 overs.

"The most important thing about chasing 300-plus is that one of the top three or four batters has to bat through.

"To lose three wickets in under 10 overs I think that was a major setback and the major factor in the game.

"Myself and Ramnaresh Sarwan had to try to consolidate and rebuild the innings and in doing that of, course, we chewed up a lot of balls," added Lara, who scored 77.

Lara, who looked in good form after coming in at number five, said that he was not about to alter his batting line-up, though.

"I still have a lot of confidence in the guys up there, Chanderpaul got a hundred in our last game, Chris Gayle is an outstanding batsman. Sarwan has been our top player in one-day games in the last couple of years and Marlon Samuels has been coming to the fore.

"One game is not going to change things but of course we are going to discuss it. I still have confidence in the top four to do the job that is required, though," said the West Indies skipper.

Lara was impressed with the facilities at the new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium but said he was surprised by the low crowd over the two days of action.

"It was very disappointing. You sit back and think, at least every single game the West Indies is going to play it is going to be a full house.

"We have to focus on the cricket and hopefully the people will come out," he said.

Lara's side face New Zealand today, at the same venue, in their next Super Eights fixture.

Scoreboard

West Indies v Australia

Overnight - Australia 322 for 6

West Indies Innings

C H Gayle c Watson b McGrath 2

S Chanderpaul lbw b Tait 5

R R Sarwan c Ponting b Hogg 29

M N Samuels c Symonds b McGrath 4

B C Lara lbw b Hogg 77

D J Bravo c Ponting b McGrath 9

D Ramdin c Gilchrist b Bracken 52

D S Smith lbw b Hogg 9

J E Taylor lbw b Symonds 10

D B Powell b Tait 5

C D Collymore not out 1

Extrasb1 w15 pens 0 ... 16

Total (45.3 overs) 219

Fall:1-11, 2-16, 3-20, 4-91, 5-107, 6-156, 7-172, 8-199, 9-217.

Bowling:Bracken 9-1-25-1; Tait 7.3-0-43-2; McGrath 8-1-31-3; Watson 7-0-31-0; Hogg 10-0-56-3; Symonds 4-0-32-1.

Australia win by 103 runs

Sri Lanka v South Africa

Sri Lanka won toss

Sri Lanka Innings

W U Tharanga c Kemp b Ntini 12

S T Jayasuriya c Kallis b Langeveldt 26

D Jayawardene c de Villiers b Langeveldt 12

K C Sangakkara c Boucher b Hall 28

L P C Silva run out 9

T M Dilshan c Kemp b Ntini 58

R P Arnold c Boucher b Langeveldt 50

M F Maharoof c Ntini b Langeveldt 5

W P U Vaas c Gibbs b Langeveldt 0

S L Malinga run out 0

M Muralitharan not out 1

Extraslb3 w4 nb1 pens 0 ... 8

Total(49.3 overs) 209

Fall:1-13, 2-45, 3-65, 4-90, 5-98, 6-195, 7-208, 8-208, 9-208. Bowling: Pollock 8-0-46-0; Ntini 8-0-26-2; Langeveldt 10-1-39-5; Hall 9.3-0-33-1; Kallis 6-0-24-0; Peterson 5-0-22-0; Smith 3-0-16-0.

South Africa

G C Smith st Sangakkara b Muralitharan 59

A B de Villiers b Vaas 0

J H Kallis c Sangakkara b Malinga 86

H H Gibbs c & b Muralitharan 31

M V Boucher lbw b Muralitharan 0

J M Kemp st Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 5

S M Pollock b Malinga 13

A J Hall c Tharanga b Malinga 0

R J Peterson not out 4

M Ntini b Malinga 0

C K Langeveldt not out 1

Extrasb2 lb7 w3 nb1 pens 0 13

Total9 wkts (48.2 overs) 212

Bowling:Vaas 10 1 31 1; Malinga 9.2 0 54 4; Maharoof 7 0 41 0; Muralitharan 10 0 34 3; Jayasuriya 10 0 34 1; Dilshan 2 0 9 0

South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 1 wkt