Oman 265 Bermuda 255

Fuelled by a 104-run second wicket partnership between OJ Pitcher and Saleem Mukuddem, Bermuda fell just ten short in a thrilling run chase as they went down to fellow ICC Trophy competitors Oman on a chilly, overcast day in the village of Saintfield outside Belfast yesterday.

While it marked their third loss in the last of five warm-up matches prior to tomorrow's opening Trophy game against hosts Ireland, this really was a contest where the final result meant little.

Resting Monday's hero Janeiro Tucker, who slammed 93 against the NCU President's XI, as well as wicketkeeper Dean Minors and opening bowler Ryan Steede, coach Gus Logie took the opportunity to juggle with his batting line-up and use no fewer than eight bowlers.

And his tactics almost paid off as Bermuda, needing more than 90 runs off the last ten overs, launched a furious late attack which ended only in the final over when skipper Clay Smith was last out as he looked to thump the 11 runs required for victory.

Losing by such a narrow margin was certainly no disgrace against an Oman team who some are tipping to be the dark horses of the upcoming World Cup qualifying tournament.

Having beaten Denmark a day earlier, a side packed with Pakistani and Indian professionals - their squad includes just one player born in Oman - showed that they'll be stiff competition for any of the 11 countries who they might encounter over the next two weeks.

Number five bat Awal Khan smashed a virtually chanceless century (107) and along with Muhammad Aslam (65) accounted for the majority of their runs as they galloped along at more than five an over.

And while Bermuda's early bats could never match that pace, Mukuddem (78) and Pitcher (46) ensured that there would be plenty of wickets in hand when the chase eventually gained some momentum.

Logie saw plenty of positives in the Bermuda performance, although he admitted the bowlers hadn't been at their most economical, allowing a total which was always going to be difficult to reach on a deteriorating pitch.

“I thought it was a spirited reply given the conditions,” said Logie.

“But I think most professionals wouldn't have wanted to be out there today, it's the coldest day we've had since arriving. Credit to the guys for getting as close as they did.

“You look at the combination we had out there, we were missing three key players.

“But we didn't bowl as well as we should, it's a cold day but no excuses on that score. We didn't bowl the right line and we paid for it. I think 260 odd was 20 more runs than they should have got.

“We certainly need to work on that as we come up against the better teams in the competition but again I think the approach we had in terms of how we chased that target was sensible. We had wickets in hand but unfortunately at the end of the day we fell short.

“The guys can take heart from this performance.”

Young Chris Foggo, however, will take little comfort from Logie's encouragement as his tour misery continued yesterday.

Perhaps the most explosive bat in domestic cricket before his departure with the squad, Foggo hasn't been able to replicate that form on tour.

And it was no different against Oman as, after being asked to open the Bermuda innings with Pitcher, he found himself trudging off in the very first over, caught behind by Sultan Ahmed off the bowling of Fahran Khan without a run on the board - from a ball outside the off stump which he could easily have left.

It was just the start Bermuda didn't want. But the partnership that followed, while often pedestrian, ultimately set up a real chance of victory as together Pitcher and Mukuddem saw off the pace attack and slowly but surely mastered the spinners on whom Oman rely so heavily.

At 30 for one after ten overs, 67 for one after 20, and 78-1 after 25 - the half-way mark - Bermuda were rapidly falling a long way behind the required run rate.

When Pitcher eventually went, stumped for 46 off the bowling of Awal Khan in the 29th over, the total was up to 104, and the pressure was now on the normally reliable Irving Romaine to get the runs flowing.

He quickly showed his intentions, thundering a six over the long-on boundary and adding another four before suffering an untimely run out as he narrowly failed to make his ground after Mukuddem had called for the quick single.

At 116 for three after 32 overs, it was still going to take a heroic effort for Bermuda to get home but hopes were raised when first Albert Steede, batting down the order for the first time on this tour, showed uncharacteristic but required aggression in a sparkling innings of 26 before being clean bowled by Hemal Mehta going for another big hit, and then Lionel Cann bludgeoned a whirlwind 24.

Cann crunched 21 off a single over from Mehta, launching three sixes over the long-on boundary, and suddenly up to 196-4 off 42 overs, Bermuda sniffed a chance of victory.

But going for one big hit too many, Cann was caught by Mazhar Khan off Fahran Cann in the 43rd over and when Mukuddem followed in the next over, snapped up by Jitendra Redkar off Metha, it was again looking desperate.

Skipper Smith and Wendell White, aware that with 51 required off less than seven overs, it was a case of blast or bust, went for the jugular.

Both hit two sixes as the score rapidly accelerated and when White (15) succumbed in the 48th over, caught by Metha off Anal Khan, the total was up to 245.

However, both Dwayne Leverock and Dennis Archer were dismissed without further addition, and suddenly all the pressure was on Smith as he was joined by last man Delyone Borden.

Entering the final over, Bermuda needed 14 to tie, and while Smith smacked four off the first ball, his next attempt off the bowling of Anal Khan fell straight into the hands of Mehta at long-on with his total on 31 and Bermuda just ten runs shy.

It had been a gallant effort, but as Logie pointed out the target should have been much less daunting.

An indifferent bowling performance and some sloppy fielding, which saw three reasonably straightforward catches spilled, ultimately came back to haunt Bermuda.

While Archer returned the team's best figures of four for 38 off ten overs, two of those wickets came in the dying overs as the Oman bats went for broke, particularly Awal Khan whose century included a succession of brutal sixes.

Mukuddem produced a tidy opening spell but he too was later heavily punished as he finished with two for 49 off ten.

The other wicket-takers were Leverock (one for 41 off ten), who as he had done against the NCU President's XI on Monday, produced another stunning catch to dismiss the impressive Aslam (65) off the bowling of Mukuddem, and Borden (one for 56 off ten).

Bermuda's man-of-the-match Mukuddem said afterwards that despite the defeat he was encouraged by both his own performance and that of the team as a whole.

“I've been promoted up the order to three and I think my role is that of anchor man and therefore my aim was just to bat as long as I could. It was a big total to chase but as long as we kept the singles going, there was hope.

“Back home we trained for the best part of six months, and I'm just trying to stick to the basics. My form hadn't been good at home, but I knew it was only a matter of time. I haven't tried to change anything.

“I'm a firm believer that if you keep repeating the basics it'll come good.

“As a team, our main focus has always been on processes, in terms of situations. The tournament starts on Friday and these games have been all about getting batting time in the middle and trying different things with the bowling.

“This was a good experience for us today. In previous games we hadn't had to chase a big total. Today we did and it allows us to look at things that we might have done wrong and try and put them right.”