Delray Rawlins will miss the first two games of the World Cricket League Division Four tournament, it was confirmed tonight by Bermuda coach Clay Smith.

The Sussex Academy all-rounder is not travelling to Los Angeles until Sunday because of his commitments with the England Young Lions, ruling him out of potentially the two most difficult matches Bermuda will have to play.

After a comprehensive, eight-wicket defeat by host nation United States today, Bermuda tomorrow face Oman, who created a sensation by defeating Associate powerhouse Ireland to reach the World Twenty20 finals last year.

They got their campaign under way today with a comfortable, six-wicket win over Jersey, who qualified with them out of Division Five this summer.

But before he can focus on Oman, Smith first has to get his ship in order, starting with the batting. “We could have played a lot better,” he said. “We lost wickets at crucial times and that hurt us. Janeiro [Tucker] looked like he was about to get going before he was given out leg-before and then Kamau [Leverock] was doing well, too.”

The coach, who took over after interim coach Allan Douglas was effectively booted out of cricket in the wake of a disastrous tour to Malaysia in 2014, believes that a score closer to 250 was the least that Bermuda should have expected.

Having said that, he admitted the bowling performance was well below par and not likely to defend 350, let alone 250.

“Our bowling was all over the place; not consistent at all,” Smith said. “We were either too full or too short. That is a bit disappointing because the bowling has been a strength.”

The US chased down 201 with 104 balls remaining.

Tactical changes are planned for the Oman match, with Jordan DeSilva lined up to take the new ball in place of Leverock, while there will likely be a replacement at the top of the order for Stephen Bremar Jr, who faced 19 balls without scoring before he was run out.