Bermuda 134 all out; Oman 136 -8One of the worst batting displays in recent memory condemned Bermuda to a two-wicket defeat against World Cricket League Division 3 rivals Oman at Sea Breeze Oval.Bermuda’s batsmen buckled under the weight of a devastating opening spell of bowling by Oman seamer Munis Ansari.The medium fast bowler ripped the heart out of Bermuda’s top and middle order on the way to match-best figures of six for 16 off nine overs that included three maidens.Bermuda found themselves reeling at 22 for seven after 11 overs and had Malachi Jones and Greg Maybury to thank for pushing the hosts past the century mark with some heavy hitting lower down the order. Oman also gave away 23 extras which further aided Bermuda’s cause.Jones thumped five fours and three sixes in a game-high knock of 59, reaching a well-played counter-attacking half- century off 57 deliveries, while tail-ender Maybury stroked an unbeaten 26 that included four fours. The pair added 65 runs for the 10th wicket before Jones became the last Bermuda wicket to fall, bowled by the off spin of Hamed Metha playing across the line.Oman used six bowlers to dismiss Bermuda in 32.2 overs.Four of Bermuda’s batsmen failed to bother the scorers.Openers Treadwell Gibbons and Dion Stovell both failed to get off the mark as the unrelenting Ansari made the early breakthrough with the new ball. Gibbons was trapped in front of his stumps while Stovell was bowled off an inside edge.Tre Manders and Lionel Cann were also removed for ducks after falling prey to Ansari who was virtually unplayable. Manders was caught at gully after slashing at a short delivery while the usually reliable Cann got a top edge and was caught at square leg.After restricting their hosts to a paltry total Oman nearly threw the match away as Bermuda staged a late fightback that ultimately came up short.The visitors were seemingly cruising to victory at 65 for two before a middle order collapse raised local hopes of pulling off what had earlier seemed unthinkable.Deputising skipper Rodney Trott’s gamble to bring off-spinner Jacobi Robinson into the attack in the 22nd over paid dividends as the latter sliced through Oman’s middle order with consummate ease.Robinson made the big breakthrough to snap a burgeoning 54 run third -wicket partnership between Oman skipper Vaibhav Wategaonkar (16) and Jatinder Singh (42) when he had the former caught at point. He then picked off danger man Sing, who stroked three fours and a six in his attractive innings, Nileshkumar Parmar (3) and Syed Kaleem (7) in quick succession to leave Oman in a spot of bother at 84 for six.Elder statesman Janeiro Tucker kept the pressure on at the opposite end where he claimed two-wickets with his gentle seam to swing the match further in Bermuda’s favour.However, thoughts of an improbable win for the home side were eventually crushed as lower order pair Syed Ali (32) and Rajesh Ranpura (12) produced an unbroken ninth-wicket stand that carried Oman to victory with nine balls to spare.Ali clinched the match in emphatic fashion with a boundary off of seamer Jones to put Bermuda out of their misery.Robinson finished with superb figures of four for 33 from ten overs that included two maidens bowling unchanged from the southern end of the ground.Tucker also bowled ten overs unchanged that yielded figures of two for 13. He also tossed down three maidens.Tomorrow will see a Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) XI take on Italy at Sea Breeze Oval at 10:30am.Oman and Italy are among the first overseas teams to arrive in Bermuda for the WCL Division 3 Tournament that starts on Sunday.