DUBAI SPORTS CITY (Bermuda won toss) PNG, 231 for nine, beat Bemuda, 188 all out, by 43 runs.Bermuda couldn’t have picked a more inopportune moment to play badly.Knowing that their World Cricket League Division Two fate, and with it a decent amount of funding, hangs in the balance this week, what they needed against Papua New Guinea was a winning start. What they got was a spanking.The margin of defeat, 43 runs, may not seem like much but it might as well have been a 100 runs such was the gulf between the two sides yesterday. Another showing like that against Hong Kong today, and relegation to Division Three will become a very real possibility. Bermuda’s woeful performance in every facet of the game had a lot to do with the final result, although nothing should be taken away from PNG who played, good, solid, and more importantly smart, cricket.The Pacific Islanders may have only come up from Division Three in January, but they aren’t here to just make up the numbers. Batting first, opener Tony Ura (52) got them off to a good start at the top of the order. Mahuru Dai (44) and Vani Morea, unbeaten on 46, weighed in with useful runs and when it came time to bowl, they were disciplined upfront, squeezed Bermuda in the middle overs, and eventually won comfortably with ten balls to spare.It was another win for a country who were expected to struggle after making the step up only a few months ago.“I think everyone is surprised how PNG have played,” said coach Greg Campbell. “I’ve been in the job six months and to be honest I didn’t know PNG were that high in the cricketing world.“Ability wise and their will to win, which is amazing, and they enjoy a wicket more than I did when I played for Australia. They are surprising a few people and I think Hong Kong, if you speak to them, it was very important for both of us to get off to a good start and show the other sides we’re not here to make up the numbers.”Bermuda in contrast started poorly, recovered slightly, dipped again and then finished badly. They also lost Malachi Jones to a side strain after just three overs, and his participation in today’s vital game was touch and go last night. In Jones’ absence, Stefan Kelly would be expected to lead the attack, and he’ll have to do a darn sight better than he did yesterday, when he appeared generally disinterested in the task at hand.Kelly went for 41 runs from his first six overs and eventually gave up 53 from the 10 he bowled in total. His malaise set the tone for the rest of the innings and although they restricted PNG to 231, thanks largely to the efforts of Delyone Borden, who took three for 43, and Dion Stovell who also picked up a couple of wickets, the fielding performance was less than convincing.Still, chasing 232 to win should not have been beyond the wit of a team that includes the likes of Lionel Cann, Dion Stovell and David Hemp.However, Hemp was bowled by a beauty from Willie Gavera, which nipped back and cut him in half,and, as has so often been the case in the past, when Hemp fails, Bermuda fail.Not that it seemed that way for a long time. At 104 for three, on the back of 42 from Stovell, Bermuda were well in the game. And even after the loss of Chris Foggo (41) with Irving Romaine and Cann at the crease, the game was still evenly poised.PNG though squeezed Bermuda in the crucial middle overs, and the required run rate gradually climbed from five and over to seven. In reality, once Romaine and Cann had gone, so had the game.“You say we should have won, but if you’re being quite frank we didn’t play anywhere like we can play, yet at the half-way stage we would have taken the 230, considering the start that they had,” said Hemp.“The problem is we didn’t do any of the disciplines well enough, at the half-way stage, we would have taken 230 and I felt that if we’d batted even reasonably well we would have been in a position to win.“Unfortunately we didn’t do that. Across the board we didn’t perform well enough in all the disciplines and obviously it’s cost us the game. I can’t really put my finger on it. The preparations were good this morning, the warm-up was very good, there were people switched on, there was good intensity but, like anything, be it with the ball or the bat, you’ve got to set the tone, and we certainly didn’t set the tone with the ball first thing.“Similarly, with the bat, we lost a couple of wickets early on, and that’s what you can’t afford to do. What we didn’t do, which is a little bit frustrating, is seem to deal with… as the pressure built, which we have been working on.“It’s been disappointing, it’s been a sad day. The preparation had been good, everyone was really looking forward to it, and we were really up for the challenge, but we just didn’t perform anywhere like we can.”In yesterday’s other games, Hong Kong stunned Uganda, beating them by 26 runs. Mark Chapman’s unbeaten 70 held Hong Kong together after they had collapsed to 104 for six, as they were eventually all out for 204. Uganda then made the worst possible start when opener Arthur Kyobe was out first ball, and despite a valiant half century from Roger Mukasa, they fell short. In the battle of the big guns, UAE sneaked past Namibia in a thrilling game, winning by just one wicket.Chasing 177 to win, UAE collapsed to 99 for seven, before skipper Khuram Khan (54*) and last man Ahmed Raza (20*) put on 33 for the final wicket to see their side home with more than six overs to spare.