Though nobody expected Bermuda to beat Zimbabwe this week, even injured skipper Clay Smith was prepared to admit after yesterday?s huge loss that the side had let themselves down with both bat and ball.

Smith, who has acted as assistant coach and manager on tour as well as continuing his rehab programme following knee surgery, lay the blame for the defeat at the feet of the bowlers, insisting they would have been put to the sword in any standard of cricket for performing so poorly.

?I felt a bit sorry for Janeiro out there because they were not making it easy for him,? he said as the team went through their warm-down with the physio after a dispiriting day.

?The Zimbabweans batted well. Most of them are very good improvisers and they were able to find all the gaps in the field and run well between the wickets.

?But we bowled both sides which is something you will get punished for even in club cricket, so when you do it at this level, the guys can now clearly see what the outcome tends to be.

?We decided to give Sluggo (Dwayne Leverock) and George O?Brien a rest today to make sure they are completely ready for the final and we were looking for the likes of Hurdle and Ryan Steede to step up.

?Unfortunately that just did not happen and we are going to have to think long and hard about the bowlers we pick for the final.?

On the batting front, Smith was again forced to admit that the shortcomings at the top of the order are a major concern, with Daniel Morgan, Kwame Tucker and Azeem Pitcher not yet reaching double figures.

?We knew that reaching their score was not likely, so we decided to concentrate on posting a respectable total and try and give some of the batsmen a chance to get into some form.

?Again that didn?t happen and it is a worry. We have one or two guys who we believe are capable of scoring runs at this level, but I don?t think they believe yet that they can do it. Sometimes it only takes one decent knock to set the ball rolling, but quite a few of our batsmen haven?t had one yet. I just hope that some of them will come to the party in the final.?