Bermuda’s World Twenty20 qualifying hopes were left hanging by a thread after a heavy defeat by Kenya yesterday.

Another poor batting display and lack of penetrative bowling condemned Bermuda to a seven-wicket defeat. And they must now figure out a way to win their remaining group B round robin matches against Nepal and Papua New Guinea to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

In a match reduced to 18 overs because of rain that delayed the start, Bermuda were restricted to 124 for seven in their allotted overs after losing the crucial toss and being sent to bat.

Kenya replied with 125 for three, reaching their target with 40 balls to spare to put another dent in Bermuda’s qualifying hopes. Arnold Manders, the Bermuda coach, admitted that his team’s bowling and batting were not up to par.

“The bowlers just didn’t hit the right areas and this is a whole different level to what they are used to,” he said, with an air of resignation. “We didn’t bowl well enough during the powerplay when there really isn’t much margin for error. I think we gave up 60 runs during the powerplay.

“We also need to improve our batting and must start scoring more runs. We’ve only scored one fifty in this tournament and that’s not really enough. We haven’t had any consistency in our batting and that probably puts a little bit of pressure on our bowlers.”

After five matches, Bermuda are seventh among the eight teams in group B with the second-worst net run-rate. Posting a challenging total was always going to be a difficult task after Bermuda’s top order misfired to place a huge burden on the shoulders of the batsmen coming behind them.

David Hemp coped best against a varied Kenya attack, stroking an unbeaten 30 from 33 balls, with two boundaries. He also featured in Bermuda’s most fruitful partnerships, adding 25 runs for the sixth wicket with Allan Douglas (22) and a further 34 in an unbroken, eighth-wicket stand with Kamau Leverock after the islanders had slipped to 52 for five in the eighth over.

Dion Stovell (16) and Malachi Jones (11) were the only other Bermuda batsmen to reach double figures, while there were 18 extras.

Once again Bermuda failed to make the most of the powerplay, gathering only 42 runs off the first six overs with the fielding restrictions in place. Spinners Shem Ngoche and Steve Tikolo were the biggest thorn in Bermuda’s side, claiming four of the seven wickets to tumble.

Ngoche bagged figures of two for six off four overs of slow left-arm and Tikolo, who came out of retirement for the tournament, claimed two for 33 with his off spin.

Seamers Ragheb Aga and Nelson Odhiambo also held their end of the bargain, bowling a steady line and length to keep Bermuda’s batsmen on the back foot.

Asked to score at fewer than seven runs per over in reply, Kenya reached their target in 11.2 overs, with plenty of fire power in the shed.

Tikolo led the run-chase from the top of the order with an unbeaten 54 from 36 balls to cap a fine all-round display. Bermuda made early inroads with the new ball after Jones had Alex Obanda caught by the recalled Tre Manders in the first over for a two-ball duck.

But the joy was short-lived as the Kenyans, with Tikolo in good nick at the crease, plundered 64 runs during the powerplay to remain firmly on course.

Tikolo added 54 for the second wicket with Nehemiah Odhiambo (28) and a further 54 runs for the third with skipper Collins Obuya (31) who departed in the eleventh over with victory in sight.

Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo carried Kenya across the line. And it was perhaps fitting for Tikolo to stroke the winning single off Janeiro Tucker, the Bermuda captain, the very next ball after hoisting the medium pacer over the ropes for six. Spinners Jacobi Robinson and Derrick Brangman claimed the remaining Kenyan wickets to fall.

Bermuda are on a three-game losing skid which they will have to arrest if they are to progress to the next stage of the tournament.

“All is not lost,” Manders said. “If we win our next two matches, I think that will get us through.

“But today has made life difficult for us because we must win both those games now. If we could have won today I think we would have been fine, so that’s disappointing.”