At 8.05am precisely yesterday, a minibus pulled up in dusty downtown Basseterre and out spilled a cluster of pale-skinned supporters, all clad in matching Scotland tour T-shirts. At exactly 8.06am, they were made to feel right at home. The heavens opened over St Kitts, balmy tropical rain lashing this corner of Caribbean paradise.

There were no floods of Scots filing into the ground but more than a trickle. This jaunt has been 18 months in the planning, for both the players and followers.

"This is absolutely brilliant," said Neil Craig, a fan from Edinburgh, surveying Warner Park which, moments later, had been kissed once more by the sun. "It's exciting to be here. Australia out there on the pitch. That's why you come here. To be part of all this. Scotland against the world champions. Just brilliant."

That lustre was matched by Australia - and then some.

Driven by Ricky Ponting's spirited 113, they ripped their way to 334-6 from their 50 overs.

Scotland's bowlers were timid and, Colin Smith apart, their batsmen flaccid. The Aberdeenshire wicketkeeper hit 51 but was out last ball with the Saltires defeated by 203 runs.

Ponting's men may not be everyone's favourites to emerge as World Cup victors for the third successive time when this tournament finally comes to a conclusion on April 28 but they appear to relish their quest to confound the doubters. They will have much tougher days than this but perhaps a comfortable excursion to begin was just the tonic they required.

Similarly, the hosts are savouring their own self-aggrandisement. The Kittians want to show that they can think big, despite being small. The country, taking in adjoining Nevis, has a population of just 32,000, the tiniest nation in the Americas, even if expanded by arrival of Aussies, South Africans, Dutch and the 700 or so Scots who are the cricketing equivalent of the Tartan Army.

They brought ample Saltires, flapping vigorously when the 1000-1 outsiders emerged from the pavilion into their pre-game huddle, the odd Rampant Lion, too, and even one banner proclaiming "Linlithgow Loyal".

Craig Wright's last-minute decision to bowl after winning the toss smacked of bravado, but he had no regrets, given the prospect of a flat wicket come the afternoon sunshine.

"Take it to 'em, Hoffy!" screamed one fan. With the stadium less than one-quarter full at the start, she was easily heard but Paul Hoffman duly took notice, firing his first ball past Adam Gilchrist and safely into the hands of Smith.

Just one off that initial over, just two more off John Blain's opening gambit. So far, so good. Then Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden started picking out the short boundaries. The natural order restored, the holders took just six overs to garner 50.

The Antipodean support was relaxed. Their beach towels lay side by side with the Scots' on the embankment on one corner of the ground, the empty glasses of beer and rum piling up. Only the colour of sun hats, and the reaction when Hayden jolted the day's first 6 into the South Stand in Hoffman's third over proved distinctive.

Gilchrist eventually rattled 46 off 55 balls before being trapped lbw by Dougie Brown. That was 91-1, and in came Ponting, whose disdain for "small" countries has already been documented. He backed up his words with deeds, stacking up a magnificent innings, which included five 6s, before a jaunty straight ball from Wright finally took him out.

In between, Majid Haq removed Hayden for 60 and Michael Clarke for 15, with Glenn Rogers' spin tempting Brad Hodge to drive into Hoffman's hands.

The tail wagged vigorously in the closing moments, Brad Hogg ratting off an unbeaten 40 off 15 balls and Shane Watson 18 to complete an emphatic innings.

The late collapse by the Scottish bowlers culminated in Brown conceding 21 off his final over, and this disappointed Wright. "For the first 45 overs, we competed very well," he said. "I thought we had the opportunity to keep them to under 300, but they showed their experience."

What their batters had begun, the Australian bowlers determined to finish. Haq was needlessly run out on 16 while Nav Poonia, then Fraser Watts, both exited cheaply, befuddled by the pace of Shaun Tait and Glenn McGrath. The veteran's figures of 3-14 show the tank is far from empty. He duly removed Ryan Watson and Gavin Hamilton, leaving Scotland on 42-5 and staring into the abyss.

Brown and Smith did their utmost to stem the tide, grinding out 47 in tandem before the former England cap, on 19, found Watson at long on. Smith, the policeman from Aberdeen, guarded his wicket defiantly, reaching his 50 off 72 balls.

With Wright lbw, Rogers run out, and Blain unable to bat because of a back injury, Smith's dismissal by Hogg ended the misery on 131 for 9 with 9.5 overs left. The defeat by 203 runs was the second-heaviest in the history of the World Cup.

Wright added: "The first 10 overs of our innings really killed us, when we lost too many wickets. You can't do that against a side like Australia, but we'll learn from this."

Ponting reiterated his pre-tournament view that the gap remains between the giants and the outsiders. He said: "That's not a surprise. But it always happens in a World Cup that one of the minnows springs a surprise. I'm sure it will happen at some stage. I'm just glad it didn't happen today."

He agreed with Wright that the Scots can learn from their involvement and conceded that the bowling had inflicted moments of trauma. "They were pretty good. I though their spinners did reasonably well. Glenn Rogers bowled well early on. He went for a few runs later but he impressed me. Blain and Hoffman did well."