Antigua 139

Bermuda 115Bermuda’s World Cup-bound cricket team lost their one and only practice game in Antigua yesterday, going down by 24 runs to the hosts at the Recreation Ground in St. John’s.

The game was originally meant to be played at a local club ground nearby, but after concerns were raised by Bermuda’s coaching staff about the poor state of the outfield, it ended up being moved to the main Test ground — an arena in which Brian Lara broke and then re-set the world record for the highest individual score in Test history.

Captain Irving Romaine won the toss in the morning and put Antigua into bat on a wicket which had been hurriedly prepared to accommodate the unexpected fixture and produced considerable bounce and turn from the outset.

And the day seemed to be going well for Bermuda when they dismissed the home team for a paltry 139, with medium pacer Janeiro Tucker recording excellent figures of two for 16 off his ten overs.

Given the help from the pitch, it was also no surprise that spinners Dwayne Leverock and Delyone Borden made life difficult for the Antiguan batsman, with the duo claiming two scalps apiece.

Romaine’s men made a complete hash of the run chase, however, as three batsmen were run out and numerous others dismissed through questionable shot selection.

Opener Dean Minors and star batsman David Hemp were both sent packing without troubling the scorers, while OJ Pitcher (38), Kwame Tucker (17) and Irving Romaine (15) were the only players to get decent starts.

“On the positive side we bowled and fielded superbly — our performance in that regard was of the highest class,” said coach Gus Logie last night.

“We put the ball in the right areas consistently and Janeiro has to be congratulated for what was a superb spell of bowling. To go for only 16 runs off his ten overs was an impressive effort, and the two spinners also enjoyed themselves.

“But neither team batted very well and as you can see from the scores, we batted worse. The wicket might have been a little under-done but apart from some bounce with the new ball and the fact that it took turn, it was not impossible to bat on and we really should have chased down 139.

“We had plenty of time to bat, but once again there was some poor shots at the top of the order — guys out caught on the boundary hooking — while in the end three of the batsmen ran themselves out.

“We’ve talked about this again and again — we’re just not putting it into action.”

The team now have two further days to prepare and take stock of their shortcomings before taking on Bangladesh this Sunday at the Recreation Ground — Bermuda’s first-ever official ODI against a Test nation.