A delighted Clay Smith said his side?s first innings of 346 had proved Bermuda deserved to be in the World Cup and in this tournament.

The Island skipper patiently built an unbeaten captain?s innings of 126 to help his side reply to Kenya?s 403-6 and give them hope going into today?s final day.

?That was big for all of us,? said an elated Smith, who has now scored more than 550 runs in his eight Intercontinental Cup innings.

?I think getting a score of around 350 against a side of the quality of Kenya says a lot about us and how far we have come.

?There are people who say we shouldn?t be in the World Cup and there are people who say we shouldn?t be here, but I think we proved out there that we should.

?We have said all along that we can compete with the best if you give us a chance to play against them and we showed that against the best side outside Test cricket. They dominated the first day but we stood up to them and didn?t let them do it again. We all showed a lot of character and I am proud of the lads.?

But his pride was tinged with disappointment ? disappointment that despite his century, partnerships didn?t hold for long enough to genuinely challenge the 400 target.

?There were plenty of times where the 400 seemed possible,? he continued. ?When myself and Janeiro were together and then with Dean, we were moving the score along at a good pace and it looked like something might be possible.

?We batted well although it was a shame we couldn?t hold some of the partnerships a little longer, wickets were falling just as things were getting together.

?But what really killed us was when we lost Dean. I?m not too sure about the decision (lbw) but that is something you have to deal with.

?And then when Lionel went the next ball, that was pretty much the end of our chances of getting 400.

?But we still went on to keep the score going and we can be very happy to have stayed within 60 of the Kenyans.?

And on a personal note, the skipper was delighted to have joined Tikolo with a clich?d captain?s knock. ?I knew before the game, before the tournament, that I was going to have to bat,? he added with a smile.

?And with the way the game was going I knew I needed to go in with a big, steady innings. Somebody had to not just make fifty but go on and once I played myself in, I knew I could do that.

?It was a pretty good track and I tried to make the most of it.

?It was very satisfying for me and for what it did for the team and to prove to ourselves and the Bermuda public that we can cope.?

Coach Logie was also full of praise for the Bermuda performance, claiming that the day?s cricket had ?proved that the gap is not that wide if it?s there at all? between Bermuda and the next tier of international cricket.

?I?m very happy with the performance, I thought the guys showed great character,? said Logie, looking very relaxed and contented.

?Clay has to be congratulated for his very good 100 but also Dean Minors, Hasan and Saleem for their contributions.?

Explaining his decision to go for 350 rather than declare which could have left them a point better off, Logie said that he felt his side were capable of getting the runs and thought the risk of losing wickets was worth it.

As for what should be a tough final day, Logie stated that the game was still ?very much in the balance?.

?We need to take wickets, it is as simple as that,? he added. ?We will have to go out there and put them under pressure from the first ball. We have done very well to get back into the game but there is still more to do.

?They may well choose to bat out the day but we have to give it everything we have and try and get them out.?