Bermuda’s national team cricketers were given time to reflect on their World debut yesterday, coach Gus Logie scrapping a planned training session and giving the players a day off.

Most took the opportunity to spend time with friends and family who have travelled down to the Caribbean to witness Bermuda’s three matches, while others simply hung around the hotel pool or went shopping in one of the many Port of Spain malls. As players tried to analyse just what went wrong in Thursday’s 243-run mauling by Sri Lanka — the second largest defeat in World Cup history — most agreed they were simply outplayed and outclassed by a team who remain among the favourites to win the tournament outright.

And much of the talk was about Sri Lanka’s mop-haired pacer Lasith Malinga who returned superb figures of three wickets for ten runs off just five overs.

While Muttiah Muralitharan, generally considered to be the world’s best spin bowler, had been expected to pose the greatest threat to Bermuda’s batsmen, it turned out to be the wide-armed slingshot action of Malinga, sending down deliveries at more than 90 mph, that shredded the team’s top order.

“It’s always difficult batting against that sort of pace,” said David Hemp, who compiled Bermuda’s second highest score of 14 before falling victim to the express bowler.

“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 batsmen no matter what class they are.”

Vice-captain Dean Minors, unluckily given out caught behind to a delivery which TV replays suggested he didn’t touch, agreed the Sri Lankan attack was as good as any of the players had ever faced.

“One of the problems we face playing at this level is that you are not going to get too many, if any, bad balls,” said Minors.

“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.”

Meanwhile, the wicketkeeper said the team had contributed heavily to their own demise, giving away too many extras and dropping too many catches.

“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.

But by and large the spirit among Bermuda’s players remained high yesterday, all of them vowing to give it their all when they face another huge challenge against India, who are determined to lift their first world crown since beating the West Indies in the 1983 final at Lord’s in London.

India face Bangladesh at the Queen’s Park Oval today, knowing that a victory followed by the expected win over Bermuda on Monday would assure their progress through to the so-called ‘Super Eight’, by which time all of the minows are likely to have been eliminated.

Bermuda’s players will train on familiar territory at Couva today, where they’ve held a number of training camps over the past two years and will then go back to the Queen’s Park Oval nets tomorrow for a final work-out before their second match.