Bermuda 194

Holland 198-2

Led by an untroubled, unhurried and unbeaten century from their Essex county player, Ryan ten Doeschate, Holland took a leisurely Sunday drive down victory road yesterday, condemning hapless Bermuda to their fourth straight World One-Day League defeat at the Ruaraka Sports Club.

But this wasn’t so much about ten Doeschate’s classic innings as it was the Island side’s inability yet again to compete at this level.

The eight-wicket defeat means winless Bermuda will remain cemented at the bottom of the six-team World One-Day League standings no matter what the outcome of their last contest against unbeaten Scotland at the same Ruaraka ground today.

Not that there was ever much hope they would finish anywhere else.

The same mistakes and shortcomings that have dogged their performances on this Kenyan tour were all too evident again.

After a disastrous start which saw three wickets fall for 12 runs inside the first four overs, Irving Romaine’s men found themselves with their backs to the wall.

And while a half-century from David Hemp (58), whose stoic resistance during face-saving partnerships with first Janeiro Tucker (32) and then Lionel Cann (48), added a measure of respectability to Bermuda’s final total, the 194 runs they put on the board before being bowled out inside the allotted 50 overs was never going to be sufficient to trouble the Dutch.

Although Kevin Hurdle removed Holland opener Darron Reekers in the first over for a duck, new bat ten Doeschate (109 not out) and Bas Zuiderent (71) embarked on a stand worth 177 which, by the time it was eventually broken in the 39th over, had taken the Dutch to the brink of victory.

Bermuda’s bowling, on paper at least, might have appeared more economical and disciplined than in previous outings in the last week, but that had as much to do with ten Doeschate and Zuiderent’s no-risk approach which allowed them to cruise towards the target at less than four runs an over.

Admittedly, the advantage was always going to be with the team that won the toss and after the Dutch did just that and opted to field, Bermuda’s early order batsmen faced a testing time on a strip containing some early morning moisture.

But there can be few excuses for the hole into which they dug themselves within three torrid overs.

Having left Saleem Mukuddem and Delyone Borden out of the team in favour of Stephen Outerbridge and Arthur Pitcher, Bermuda chose to open with Outerbridge and Clay Smith and drop regular opener Dean Minors down the order.

It was a plan which quickly backfired, both of the openers as well as skipper Romaine back in the pavilion within the first quarter of an hour.

Smith (one) had his stumps shattered by Darron Reekers in the second over with the total on five and at the other end Outerbridge (four) was clean bowled by Edgar Schiferli. When in the next over Romaine was adjudged lbw to Reekers, Bermuda’s innings was already in tatters at 12 for three.

Between them, Hemp and Tucker began a rebuilding process which reaped 57 runs in just under 14 overs, both players employing sensible shot selection to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

However, when Tucker was snared by Zuiderent at mid-on with a firm drive off ten Doeschate and Minors survived five overs for only eight runs, trapped lbw by ten Doeschate, Bermuda’s hopes again plunged with the total now on 93 for five.

Lionel Cann, so often Bermuda’s saviour in these types of crises, typically arrived at the crease with no intention of playing anything other than aggressively.

In stark contrast to Hemp at the other end, he immediately went after the Dutch attack, smashing his second ball off ten Doeschate for four and repeating the stroke on the next ball to bring up the 100.

Hemp himself cut loose with two boundaries in the next over, but it was Cann who continued to increase the run rate.

Spinner Muhaamad Kashif was blasted for 13 off his first over, Cann hoisting a huge six over his head and beyond the long-on boundary.

Hemp then brought up his 50 in the same manner with a towering six off Darren Van Bunge. And at 156 for five off 33 overs, it seemed Bermuda might still be able to post a challenging target if these two could remain at the wicket.

Alas, one run later, Hemp was smartly taken by wicket-keeper Jeroen Smits off Kashif and within another over new bat Malachi Jones (four) was also trudging his way back from the centre after being given out lbw to Peter Borren off a ball which appeared suspiciously high.

Realising he was practically Bermuda’s last hope, Cann continued swinging. But with 12 overs still remaining, he ran out of patience. Having watched as one big hit off Kashif just cleared the outstretched hands off Reeker at long-off for six, he tried exactly the same shot two balls later only to be caught by the same player in the same position.

His 48 off 37 balls, including six fours and two sixes, was a welcome addition to the Bermuda total — but had he managed to bat out the remaining overs it just might have been a closer game.

Arthur Pitcher also went down swinging, blasting a six before being caught in the covers by Alexei Kervezee off Kashif, leaving last pair Leverock (nine) and Hurdle (one not out) to push and prod their way through six and a half overs, taking the score up to 194 before Leverock fell lbw to ten Doeschate, who finished with three for 37 off 8.3 overs.

Kashif also grabbed three, conceding 42 in his ten overs.

If Bermuda were to make a match of it, they required early wickets and when Hurdle had opener Reekers cupped by Leverock at first slip off his fourth ball, they might have sensed an upset was still possible.

Ten Doeschate and Zuiderent seemingly thought otherwise. In the next 38 overs they proceeded to repel everything Bermuda’s bowlers could throw at them, pushing through the gaps for easy singles and punishing anything off line.

Ten Doeschate proved the more adventurous, finishing with eight fours in his unbeaten 109, but Zuiderent never appeared uncomfortable until eventually removed by a superb delivery from Jones in his last over which crashed into middle stump. But with the total now on 178 for two and with less than 20 runs required, it was small consolation for a Bermuda team who once again were, for the most part, thoroughly outplayed.

Jones finished with one for 49 off ten, Hurdle one for 41 off ten with Leverock the pick of the rest, conceding just 30 runs in his ten overs.