Bermuda’s hopes of qualifying for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Ireland in July are all but over after suffering an eight-wicket defeat against United States in the ICC Americas Division One T20 tournament yesterday.

Bermuda posted 97 for five in their 20 overs, not enough to test a strong US batting line-up that reached Bermuda’s paltry total with 7.5 overs remaining.

The in-form Steve Taylor hit another half-century for the US, scoring 60 off 39 balls with five fours and three sixes.

The defeat leaves Bermuda with a 1-3 record from four matches while the US are 3-1 and four points ahead in the race for second spot in the four-team tournament.

Bermuda’s decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired as Dion Stovell continued his run of poor form, scoring just one run before he was run out by Adil Bhatti in the second over.

David Hemp and OJ Pitcher added 40 runs for the second wicket but the run rate had slipped to four an over when Hemp departed on the first ball of the twelfth over. He hit two fours and faced 33 balls for his 19.

Pitcher went on to lead Bermuda’s batting with 24, but the team’s woes continued when he retired hurt at 69 for three in the sixteenth over.

Pitcher scored his runs off 37 balls and hit one boundary, but with less than four overs remaining, and captain Janeiro Tucker out for just nine, the pressure was on the middle and late-order batsmen to post a challenging total.

Bermuda continued to find runs hard to come by as Christian Burgess was the only other batsman to reach double figures, scoring 13 off 16 at No 5.

Jacobi Robinson scored five, Tre Manders four and Delray Rawlins nine, with the Bermuda innings containing just six boundaries. Like Bermuda, the US employed four spin bowlers, with Danial Ahmed, a 30-year-old Pakistan-born slow left-arm bowler, giving up just seven runs from his four overs.

Timil Patel, a leg-break bowler, took three for 22 off his four overs, removing Hemp and Tucker and then Manders late in the innings.

By contrast, the US scored more fluently with Taylor, a 21-year-old left-hander who was born in Florida of West Indies parentage, sharing an opening stand of 89 with Fahad Babar in just 10.5 overs which effectively ended the contest.

Taylor was caught and bowled by Rawlins and then Robinson removed Patel for seven, six balls later and just two runs short of victory.

Rawlins went for 32 from his four overs while Robinson conceded 27 off four after Stefan Kelly and Stovell bowled two overs each with the new ball, conceding 24 and 14 respectively.

Bermuda will play Canada today before closing out the tournament against Suriname on Saturday.

Scorecard, page 14