Bermuda’s lopsided World Cup defeat against 1996 champions Sri Lanka on Thursday might best be summed up in two words — Lasith Malinga.

After Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene (85) shared in a 150-run third-wicket stand that enabled the Asians to press home the advantage, seamer Malinga completely shattered Bermuda’s hopes by claiming three wickets for a stingy ten runs off a tormenting five over spell that included two maidens.

Malinga was clocked consistently at 90 miles per hour and he received added assistance from a newly laid Queen’s Park Oval pitch that offered plenty of bounce.

Bermuda vice-captain Dean Minors was the first to admit that trying to play the Sri Lankan ace was indeed difficult, although he believes he got a raw deal being given out to a catch behind off seamer Fareev Maharoof for four.

“In the morning the wicket played a bit difficult and I could see it in the faces of the Sri Lankan batsmen. But they were able to battle through it. Any delivery that came straight they played with a straight bat and batted within their limits,” he said.

“But one of the problems we face playing at this level is that you are not going too get many, if any, bad balls. And to have someone like Malinga bowling consistently at you at 90 miles per hour calls for even more concentration. You have to be sharper at this level and mentally tough.”

Like many, Minors applauded his team’s performance in the field, though he admitted giving away 30 runs in extras was enough to raise concerns in the camp.

“I don’t think we have ever given that many extras away before, and we rarely drop catches. And as players playing at this level we all know that dropping catches and giving away extras can be very crucial in the end,” he added.

Bermuda paid a heavy price for dropping Sri Lanka skipper Jayawardene in the ninth over before the batsman had got off the mark, Dwayne Leverock just failing to take a low diving catch at first slip on the next ball after Saleem Mukuddem claimed the prized scalp of dangerman Sanath Jayasuriya (22).

“We knew what the game plan was, but executing it on the day was something else,” Minors said.

Batting-wise, Bermuda received poor grades after disintegrating at the crease with only Glamorgan skipper David Hemp (14) and hard-hitting Lionel Cann (28) managing double figures.

“Obviously things did not go as well as we would’ve liked, especially in terms of the batting,” Hemp conceded.

Hemp became the first Bermuda batsmen to score a boundary in the World Cup, when he beautifully dispatched pacer Chaminda Vaas just forward of point for four, much to the delight of the 300 or so Bermudians present at the ground.

But an innings that promised much was eventually cut down in its infancy as Malinga found the edge of Hemp’s bat to give Jayawardene a straight forward catch at second slip.

“I’ve been feeling good at the crease and striking the ball well. My feet have been moving okay, but unfortunately it’s just a case of getting out when I looked set,” Hemp said.

“But at the end of the day you have to be realistic because I got a reasonably good ball that bounced a little bit. And it’s always difficult batting against that sort of pace. I found Malinga very difficult yesterday because I haven’t faced him before. Yes, he is quick, but for me it was his action that took a lot more getting used to because he is slingy. He tended to pitch it up yesterday and bowl it short.

“I saw the one (delivery) that I got out to all the way, and it did bounce and get bigger on me than I thought it would. And I think that sort of pace would be difficult for any batsman no matter what class they are.”

Saleem Mukuddem, one of Bermuda’s senior players, also lamented over the team’s dismal batting performance.

“It would’ve been nice if we could’ve done better in the batting department and given a better performance overall. I was a bit disappointed to finish the game the way we did, but that’s cricket and we will learn and move on,” he said.

Mukuddem also fell victim to the heat of Malinga.

“When I was batting a famous Mohammed Ali quote came to mind and that is ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, because you can’t hit what you can’t see’,” the all-rounder smiled. “I faced about four balls from the guy (Malinga) who bowled consistently around 90 miles per hour.”