NAIROBI, Kenya -- Bermuda's dream of qualifying for the 1996 World Cup came to a crushing end on Saturday after their most lopsided defeat in the ICC Trophy Tournament.

After conceding in excess of 300 runs for the third straight match, Bermuda batted themselves out of contention against a disciplined bowling attack which was aided by two key run-outs.

Nolan Clarke, the top batsman in the tournament, stayed the course and finished on 121 not out and Holland also got a dashing 81 in 55 balls from their skipper Steve Lubbers.

Saturday at Simba Union witnessed Bermuda's best fielding performance of the three losses but there are many questions left unanswered, the main one being why Arnold Manders was again overlooked as a bowler.

Clarke and Lubbers, in particular, feasted on the medium to fast bowling with only occasional spinner Clay Smith looking the part, his 10 overs going for only 47 runs.

Though leg-spinner Bruce Perinchief gave up 61 in his allotted 10, the amount of boundaries were few.

Holland made 122 runs from the final 14 overs, with Smith and Perinchief already finished, and the need for that third spinner to be used loomed large.

Be that as it may, Bermuda were faced again with the task of scoring at more than six an over and rarely bothered the Dutch after a positive start.

Bermuda's innings took a turn for the worse from 103 for two when top scorer Dexter Smith (39) was the second of three run-out victims. Within the next three overs, the heart of the line-up was torn out and Holland could sense victory.

Not even an hour-long rain delay could change the course of events as Holland wrapped up the match just under a half-hour upon the restart.

"We tried our best but that was not good enough today,'' said captain Albert Steede. "The guys are taking it hard. We've come a long way to qualify for the World Cup and not to make it at the final hurdle is a bit difficult to swallow.'' It was difficult from the moment Bermuda sent Holland in to bat after winning the toss.

Steede will be second-guessed, of course, but after watching Holland in recent matches, it appeared to be a wise choice at the time.

But there was no accounting for Clarke, who notched his third century of the tournament.

He and Flavian Aponso (53) put on 114 for the first wicket in 25-plus overs.

Anthony Edwards and Terry Burgess caused some early problems for Aponso, but narrowly failed to catch an edge on several occasions.

Clarke, on the other hand, was rarely beaten by the odd Edwards' delivery and did not give Bermuda much to shout about.

On the one occasion, however, Dexter Smith at short-mid wicket came up short of a missed-judged pull shot against Clay Smith.

That half-chance was the closest Clarke came to losing his wicket, he and skipper Ludders adding 138 for the second wicket from 115 balls.

Ludders made no qualms over his intentions after coming in once Aponso was run out having hit three fours from 83 balls.

The captain struck the ball cleanly with Clarke gladly giving up the strike whenever he could. Lubbers hit a six and nine fours before he was caught at mid-wicket by Steede off Edwards.

New batsman Tim de Leede then struck 32 not out from 21 balls in making certain Holland reached the three-century mark.

Clarke, who kept the scoreboard ticking through the final 10 overs, finished with a six and nine fours from 141 balls.

The problem with Bermuda's response was that, although they matched Holland's scoring rate for the first half of their innings, they were losing too many wickets.

The first came in only the fourth over with the score 11 as Steede (four) failed to respond to Dexter Smith's call for two and both men finished at the bowler's end.

Smith began to walk off the field before the umpire signalled that the pair had crossed and ushered Steede off instead.

The supremely confident Clay Smith then joined his room-mate in a 53-run second-wicket stand which presented an element of danger to Holland.

Clay Smith, who has been hitting the ball hard for two weeks, had reached 32 when a low full toss from Floris Jansen went from bat to the grateful hands of Lubbers at short-cover.

Smith hit a six and three fours from 34 balls in his first dismissal under a half-century since the third match of the tournament against Hong Kong.

Charlie Marshall (30) immediately stepped up to the challenge in partnership with Dexter Smith. But, after putting on 39 in 31 minutes, Smith was narrowly run out at the bowler's end attempting a second run.

He had batted 89 minutes and hit two fours from 75 balls.

The Bermuda innings fell to pieces from here as Marshall soon pulled a Visee delivery to the mid-wicket boundary where De Leede took the catch.

In the next over, Arnold Manders' disappointing tour came to an end when he swept off-spinner Aponso to the back-ward square-leg boundary where he was caught for one, leaving the total 115 for five in the 27th over.

So, instead of edging closer to Holland's mark of 143 after 30 overs, Bermuda were slipping away and losing wickets.

The sixth wicket fell at 139 when Clevie Wade (13) got a top edge to an attempted on-drive against Lubbers and was caught.

Bermuda's last hope rested with Noel Gibbons and Dean Minors, hero of the Hong Kong match.

They seemed suited for the roll in adding 22 before the rains intervened with Bermuda needing 145 in 13 overs.

On the last ball of the first over upon resumption, Gibbons was caught behind for 28 attempting to run Roland Lefebvre down to third man.

That left the burden squarely on Minors' shoulders and he answered with four fours in a robust 28 before he was caught on the mid-wicket boundary.

Edwards (17) struck the day's biggest six right at the end before his run-out officially took Bermuda back to the drawing board.

Bermuda return home via England tomorrow night.

END OF THE LINE -- Bermuda skipper Albert Steede, right, summed up perfectly the feelings of his squad after Saturday's loss: `The guys are taking it hard.'