the United Arab Emirates in the Plate final in Malaysia.

The Bermuda team was to be announced just prior to the start of the game with allrounder Jermaine Postlethwaite, the only player not having played so far because of a back injury, likely to be included.

Bermuda went to the competition with high expectations of making a serious bid for the final but failed to advance past Group D where they were beaten by Hong Kong and Scotland as they finished with a 2-2 record from their four matches.

In past tournaments it has been Bermuda's bowling that has prevented them from qualifying for the World Cup but this time none of the top order batsmen have scored consistently on the matted wickets.

Bermuda advanced to the Plate final by beating Fiji on run rate in the semi-final, scoring 146 and then restricting Fiji to 46-3 when the rain, a common afternoon occurance despite the scorching heat, stopped play. Yesterday the temperature was 94 degrees.

Corey Hill played his first match against the Fijians, scoring 22 in the middle order and then claiming two wickets. He is expected to retain his place in the team while paceman Roger Blades and spinner Bruce Perinchief could both return after missing that match.

The UAE are also weaker since the last tournament, their demise brought on by stricter qualifying regulations which left them with only five players from the team which qualified for the last World Cup.

Holland's exit from the tournament means that only Kenya can possibly repeat as World Cup qualifiers.

Denmark, Kenya, Bangladesh and Ireland won their matches yesterday to move into the semi-finals.

In the most exciting match, Denmark defeated Canada by seven runs. Batting first, Denmark were all out for 126 in 48.1 overs, presenting Canada a target of a mere 2.5 runs an over. But Thomas Hansen grabbed five wickets for 51 runs to restrict Canada to 119 all out in 27.2 overs.

The semi-finals will be played tomorrow and Tuesday.

In a Group E match, rain halted play but Kenya were awarded the match against Scotland on better run rate. Kenya were 153 all out in 48.2 overs with the help of 32 by Stephen Tikolo. Thomas Odoyo made 21. The Scots were 37 for three wickets in 23 overs when play was stopped.

In the same group, Bangladesh beat the Netherlands on run rate in another rain-marred match. The Dutch batted first and were all out for 171 in 49.5 overs and the Bangladeshis reached a revised target of 141 for seven wickets in 31.4 overs. Mohammed Akram Khan was named the man-of-the-match, remaining unbeaten on 68.

Ireland's Angus Dunlop was the man-of-the-match after making 54 runs to give his side a 51-run victory over Hong Kong in the another Group F match.

Ireland scored 223 for seven in 50 overs while Hong Kong were all out for 172 in 45.3 overs. Hong Kong's Stewart Brew made 50 before being caught out by Garfield Harrison.