Bermuda?s hopes of salvaging at least a draw against Canada now hinge on their ability to occupy the crease.

And with nine wickets in hand, and still 188 runs shy of Canada?s mammoth first innings total, Bermuda skipper Irving Romaine encouraged his batsmen last night to apply themselves in the middle when play resumes this morning.

?We just have to bat sensible and try to wipe off this deficit. We just have to try and bat out the whole day, really,? Romaine said.

?I thought we had the time today to at least score 100 to 200 runs, but the rain came. But the rain has helped us as we only have to bat for one day now and look for a draw.?

A draw would keep Bermuda?s hopes of advancing from Group B to the finals of the international competition alive.

?A draw is not a loss and they will only have a six point lead over us with only one match left to play against Holland, while we still have two games (Kenya and Holland) left to play,? Romaine added.

The interim skipper did admit, though, he would have liked to have ?wiped? out the Canadian?s tail much earlier.

?We wanted to wipe the tail out as quick as possible and obviously it didn?t happen. We thought that with the new ball Hurdle and Ryan would go through the tail,? he said.

?But Samad and Bhatti played excellent and the wicket has definitely changed. It?s now flat and the batsmen played their shots and got value for them on this ground.?

And misfortunes in the field certainly didn?t help Bermuda?s cause, Romaine noted.

?We had a couple of dropped catches and confident shouts for lbw that didn?t go our way,? he added.

?But that?s cricket and we must take those chances at this level. If not, you get punished.?