Hong Kong 228-7 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Bermuda's worst fears were realised when they crashed to a shock defeat to Hong Kong in the ICC Trophy tournament at the Victoria Institute Cricket Ground yesterday.

Raji Fujanani's wild swipe at Arnold Manders' fourth delivery of the 50th and last over clinched it for Hong Kong who are now favourites to top Group D.

Fourth seeded Bermuda, on the other hand, must win both their remaining matches against Papua New Guinea on Friday and Scotland on Saturday to avoid an embarrassing early exit.

Hong Kong were cruising to victory at 205-4 after 45 overs with number three batsman Rahul Sharma leading the way on 69 and the aggressive Munir Hussain on 21.

They had put on 30 in only five overs to provide what was thought to be the knockout punch. But Bermuda's one true pace bowler, Roger Blades, turned the game on a dime with a double maiden wicket that accounted for both dangermen.

Hong Kong thus went from a position of strength to one of uncertainty, but they were still favoured, needing to score at just under a run a ball.

Mark Eames contributed a vital 16 not out with Fujanani unbeaten on five when Bermuda's first loss was made official.

Two runs were needed from the final over, with a 10-minute intermission coming between the third and fourth balls when the head umpire, Louis Hogan, left the pitch to seek clarification on the ruling if scores were level at the end.

In Kenya three years ago, Bermuda beat Hong Kong by losing fewer wickets after both teams scored 154, but the rules in Kuala Lumpur allow one point each for a tied match regardless.

That information in hand, Fujanani proceeded to top edge the next delivery wide of Kevin Hurdle at short third man and Hong Kong were on their way.

The underdogs threatened a much earlier surprise after racing away in search of 4.54 runs per over. Openers Riaz Farcy and Stewart Brew began superbly with some clean hitting that saw them bring up the half-century in only 10.3 overs.

Soon after, however, Brew was bowled behind his legs by Janeiro Tucker for 13, attempting a pull shot.

If Bermuda thought this was time to relax, the innings that followed from Sharma would soon alert them to the contrary.

Building his innings slowly, Sharma was a perfect foil for a hard-hitting Farcy, and it did not hurt that Bermuda's bowlers struggled throughout the early stages of the innings.

The pair added 67 in 16 overs when they were hardly troubled by the combination of Tucker, Bruce Perinchief, Arnold Manders and Clay Smith.

Charlie Marshall had a previous spell, but he struggled for control and was ineffective.

Perinchief finally broke the partnership when he had Farcy caught at deep mid-on by Tucker for 65, which included a pulled six off Blades and five fours in 82 balls.

At 118-2, Steve Foster joined Sharma who was beginning to tire. Signs were evident at 132 when he played his first reckless shot against Tucker and then on the next ball swung a catch into the deep mid-wicket region.

Roger Trott, arguably Bermuda's quickest player, made up some 20 yards to his left before diving but he could not hold on.

Sharma was on 41 at the time and used the chance to regroup. But partner Foster (5) kept Bermuda in with hope when he forced Perinchief into the covers where Albert Steede took the catch.

Perinchief had worked his way back into form after a change of ends and finished with useful figures of two for 35 from his 10 overs. But there were 12 remaining when he was done with Hong Kong requiring another 62 runs.

Sharma and new batsman Pat Fordham (16), the skipper, chipped away at Manders and Marshall to great effect with victory appearing imminent.

But Blades was introduced in the 44th over and two overs later did the trick.

The Barbadian finished with three for 42 from 10 overs but the urgency that was required to get amongst the wickets meant that the last 12 balls would have to be bowled by Marshall and Manders, neither of whom had total control.

A 96-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Steede and Manders provided the backbone to the Bermuda innings.

But it was the tendency to lose wickets in bunches that left them 20 runs or so short of an imposing total.

After losing Trott (6) with the score 12, Steede and Clay Smith put on 50 in 15 overs. Well set, Smith lost his head and was caught behind for 25.

Island's ICC hopes dented From Page 19 Smith was the second of eight batsmen caught, the next Marshall inside the mid-wicket boundary for only four as Bermuda were suddenly 68-3.

Glenn Smith's dismissal at 91, to another soft shot for 10, prompted reshuffling of the batting order with Manders promoted.

But that almost backfired as he twice brought the fielders into play before hitting top flight.

The first chance, on five, was a screamer into the covers, but Hong Kong would still be kicking themselves had the second on the square leg boundary when Manders reached 24 played a role in their demise.

Manders batted superbly with his Western Stars team-mate after the second let-off and looked good value for his 65 by the end. He hit two sixes and three fours from 69 balls.

Meanwhile, Steede was giving a lesson in batting throughout with excellent running between the wickets in support of his loftier hitting team-mate.

But when he fell at 201-7, for a personal total of 65, it was right in the middle of a collapse that saw five wickets go down for 28 runs in eight overs.

Steede faced 118 balls in 179 minutes and struck four boundaries.

Hong Kong's medium pacers were superb at the death with Hussain and Mohammad Zubair sharing six wickets while off-spinner Kamram Raza picked up two early on.

The other match in Group D saw Scotland beat Papua New Guinea by six wickets, having been set 121. They meet Hong Kong today.

The 1994 runners-up, Kenya, received a big scare against minnows Singapore in Group A, losing eight wickets to score a paltry 89 runs.

See Sports Scoreboard for full results and today's schedule.

FUTILE EFFORT -- Arnold Manders (left) and skipper Albert Steede did their best to propel Bermuda to victory with an inspirational fifth wicket stand of 95 against Hong Kong yesterday. But it proved to be a futile effort.