Pitiful batting, erratic bowling and some schoolboy fielding all combined to condemn Bermuda to their sixth straight one-day international defeat in the ICC Tri-Series at Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday.

It was a loss which means the Island team will finish bottom of the heap, regardless of the result in their final match against Holland tomorrow, and judging from this performance they deserve nothing less.

The highest-paid team by far in this tournament, there were times yesterday when they looked like rank amateurs, leaving coach Gus Logie shaking his head in bewilderment on the sidelines.

As has been the case in many of the matches on this tiring five-week tour, there were some encouraging individual performances ? Saleem Mukuddem battling courageously for another half-century while those around him perished, and Dwayne Leverock, attempting to defend an undefendable total, returning immaculate bowling figures of two for 21 off 10 miserly overs.

But as a team, this was as bad as it gets.

The final scorecard shows Canada winning by just three wickets. But they did so with more than 10 overs to spare and with several batsmen forfeiting their wickets safe in the knowledge that the end result was never in any doubt.

Indeed, the contest might been over less than 20 minutes after it began.

In that short spell, Canadian paceman Henry Osinde ripped the heart out of Bermuda?s top order, grabbing three quick wickets in his first two overs, one of which was a maiden.

Skipper Irving Romaine (29) tried desperately to repair the damage but when he too was sent back to the pavilion, Mukuddem was left practically alone to fight a losing battle.

Dismissed for 179, some of Bermuda?s players grumbled about cracks in the pitch. If that was the case one might have expected it to get worse as the day progressed, yet Canada had no complaints.

Helped by an unacceptable 30 extras, dropped catches and some sloppy fielding, they reached the target in a leisurely 39.4 overs.

Kevin Hurdle gave Bermuda a glimmer of hope when he had opener Sandeep Jyoti caught by Romaine at short square leg for three with the total on 20.

But while the tall paceman was to take two more wickets at a cost of 52 in his ten overs, much of his good work was undone by nine no-balls and two wides as well as some dreadful fielding.

Canada?s second wicket didn?t fall until the total had been taken to a relatively safe 86, Leverock?s nagging accuracy trapping Desmond Chumney leg before for 28. Without the addition of a run, Hasan Durham, on the second ball of his first over, enticed Abdool Samad (39) to clip a delivery into the hands of wicketkeeper Dean Minors and when Leverock struck again with the total on 111, Qaiser Ali caught by Mukuddem on the mid-off boundary for 12, there might have been still some hope of an upset.

But requiring to score at just 3.6 an over, the Canadians never appeared troubled even when two more wickets fell within the space of two overs. Ashish Bagai (17) drove Hurdle into the hands of Durham to make it 136 for five and danger man Sunil Dhaniram was caught for 20 by Janeiro Tucker as he attempted to hook Durham.

Skipper George Codrington?s wicket was the last to fall when he was caught by Durham off Hurdle for seven but by that point Canada were just four runs away from a victory that was ultimately achieved when Durham sent down a wide.

Earlier Bermuda had begun the day in flying fashion when Clay Smith got off the mark by smashing opening bowler Bhatti?s third ball for six. Any joy over that start was short-lived.

Smith?s opening partner, Minors, pushed forward to his very first delivery off Osinde and was taken cleanly at second slip by Sanjay Thuraisingham. In the third over, in a carbon copy dismissal, Smith (6) fell to the same combination and when David Hemp (0) was clean bowled by Osinde on only the second ball he faced, Bermuda were in dire straits at 18 for three after just four overs.

It could have been even worse when Romaine was also dropped by Thuraisingham in the slips and Janeiro Tucker survived a loud and confident lbw appeal from Osinde.

But after what proved to be the best partnership of the innings, worth 40, Canada assumed control for good when Tucker (19) was caught behind by Bagai off Bhatti.

Romaine and Mukuddem soldiered on, adding another 30 runs at pedestrian pace ? scoring at little more than three an over.

Romaine?s dismissal, bowled by Kevin Sandher for 29, left the total on 88 for five. And when Lionel Cann went for 21 with the total on 124, it was just a matter of how long Mukuddem and the tail could survive.

That they batted out the entire 50 overs was something of an achievement on a day best forgotten.

Durham was bowled by Codrington for four, attempting the big hit, Hurdle was caught on the long-off boundary for 12 by Bhatti off the same bowler while Mukuddem, who included four fours in his knock of 57, eventually was given out lbw, also to the Canadian captain.

Leverock (5) and Stefan Kelly (7) were unbeaten at the end.

Osinde finished with three for 22 off six overs and Codrington four for 33 off 10.