Denmark, 117 for three, beat Bermuda, 116 for seven, by seven wicketsBermuda suffered a damaging opening day defeat at the hands of Denmark yesterday at the ICC World Twenty20 2012 qualifiers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).In a group that includes defending tournament champions Afghanistan, Canada, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Nepal, it was imperative that David Moore’s side got off to a winning start against one of the weaker nations.But with only two of the 16 competing countries advancing to the finals in Sri Lanka, the uphill climb Bermuda already faced has become even steeper.Only two of the Island side’s batsmen Dion Stovell and captain David Hemp reached double figures with their team-mates failing miserably with the bat.Choosing to bat after winning the toss at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Bermuda made a poor start, losing their first wicket after just two balls when Lionel Cann was trapped lbw by Bashir Shah.However, a second-wicket partnership of 74 by debutant Stovell (56) and Hemp (36) put the side back on the front foot and a defendable total seemed to be on the cards.Stovell stroked his way to a half-century from 52 balls that included four fours and two sixes.But any thoughts of a big score were shattered once Hemp was run out on 74 in the 14th over and he was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Stephen Outerbridge (2) when he was trapped lbw by Michael Pedersen for three after facing five balls.At 83 for three, it progressively got worse.Janeiro Tucker (7) was bowled by Ajay Chawla on 94 and Bermuda never recovered from the setback.Debutant Kamau Leverock (8) was run out by Rizwan Mahmood, followed by Jason Anderson (0), who was caught by Mahmood off the bowling of Sair Anjum on the last ball of the innings.@$:Needing just under six runs per over, the Danes made light work of Bermuda’s bowling attack as they cruised to the required total with five balls to spare. Opener Freddie Flokker (50) hit a half-century from 41 balls that included four fours as he laid down the foundation for the victory along with Shehzad Ahmed (11) who proved to be a good partner.Flokker was eventually run out by Hemp in the 18th over.Ahmed departed at 42, caught by Stefan Kelly off Stovell’s bowling, while Micheal Pedersen (1) was caught by Terryn Fray off Rodney Trott’s bowling with the score on 45 to give Bermuda a glimmer of hope.However, they were dashed by Mahmood’s brisk 47 from 49 balls to all but end the match as a contest. His innings included three sixes and three fours.Coach Moore admitted Bermuda’s wayward bowling and rash batting cost the side dearly.“It was a disappointing start. Our lengths when bowling were not good at all and we gave them too much width as well,” said Moore.“When batting we were going well with Dion Stovell and David Hemp doing well for us, but unfortunately we lost momentum between the fifth and tenth over.“Hemp’s run-out set us back. When Stovell and Hemp were batting we were looking at a total of 130-odd which would have been par for us as the pitch was a bit low and slow, but it was not to be.“If you see we played lesser number of dot balls than them and hit more boundaries yet we lost, so we have learned something from this.”@$:Bermuda don’t have time to ponder on what might have been as they play Hong Kong today.In other group action, Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea by six wickets, while Netherlands comfortably saw off Canada by 42 runs.Nepal also got off to a winning start, beating Hong Kong by 28 runs.n Full World Twenty20 round-up on Page 25.