World Cup with a convincing seven wicket victory over Italy in their opening ICC Trophy match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday.

Helped by a third wicket partnership of 95 by Clay Smith and Charlie Marshall, Bermuda easily reached the 128-run target set by their opponents who were making their ICC debut.

Bermuda face a much tougher group match today against Hong Kong -- a team that have never beaten them in ICC competition. Victory would mean Bermuda would then have to win only one of their remaining two group matches against Papua New Guinea (Friday) or Scotland (Sunday) to guarantee a place in next week's quarter final group.

Three of the 22 teams competing in Malaysia will ultimately qualify for the World Cup which features all of the Test-playing nations.

Full story: Sport, Page 23