Bermuda's tour woes continued with their fifth straight one-day defeat of the current African expedition at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom today.

And it may have been their worst yet - a lacklustre display gifting the Dutch a more comfortable Tri-Series victory than they could have ever envisaged after last week's Intercontinental Cup draw in Pretoria.

In Bermuda's defence, mounting injuries within their 15-man squad hardly helped matters with strike bowlers Kevin Hurdle (stomach bug) and Ryan Steede (back strain) ruled out before the game began and Dean Minors (swollen knee) and Saleem Mukuddem (ankle injury) added to the casualty list as the game progressed.

But in the end, the eight-wicket Dutch victory completed in just 37.5 of their 50 overs was as comprehensive as the final scores suggest.

Opener Bas Zuiderent (63 not out) and number three bat Ryan ten Doeschate (65), who hit two centuries against Bermuda in last week's four-day game, were rarely troubled by Bermuda's attack while Maurits van Nierop (31 not out) helped finish the job off, fittingly smashing a six off Hasan Durham in the 38th over to complete the win.

Earlier Bermuda looked certain to set a far more challenging total after Clay Smith and Minors, in an experimental opening partnership, hammered 50 runs off the first 7.1 overs after skipper Irving Romaine had won the toss and elected to bat.

But after Smith was adjudged lbw to Mark Jonkman, giving the Dutchman his first ODI wicket, having scored a brisk 20, it all went horribly wrong for Gus Logie's team.

From 50 without loss, Bermuda collapsed to 89 for four and to 126 for seven, and but for stubborn resistance from Mukuddem who came in at number seven and compiled top score of 43 before being the last man out, it could have been even worse.

Mukuddem and Durham (11) put on 29 for the eighth wicket to add some respectability to the score after too many bats had been guilty of hitting across the line.

Tim de Leede, later adjudged man-of-the-match, returned Holland's best figures of three for 26 off his allotted 10 overs.

SCOREBOARD

BERMUDA v HOLLAND

Scoreboard from today's ICC Tri-Series one-day international between Bermuda and Holland at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom, South Africa:

Bermuda won the toss:

BERMUDA

Clay Smith lbw b M. Jonkman 20

Dean Minors c R. ten Doeschate b B.Stelling 27

Irving Romaine b M.Jonkman 8

Kwame Tucker c P.Seelaar b B.Stelling 9

David Hemp c J.Smits b T. de Leede 33

Janeiro Tucker lbw T. de Leede 6

Saleem Mukuddem b van Bunge 43

Lionel Cann c B.Stelling b T. de Leede 2

Hasan Durham c J.Smits b van Bunge 11

Dwayne Leverock run out 2

Stefan Kelly not out 0

Extras (9lb, 2nb, 5w) 16

Total (all out, 46 overs) 177

Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-65, 3-65, 4-89, 5-115, 6-126, 7-136, 8-165, 9-177

Bowling: R. ten Doeschate 9-1-41-0; M.Jonkman 7-0-28-2; B.Stelling 10-1-39-2; T.DeLeede 10-3-26-3; P.Seelaar 4-0-22-0; D. van Bunge 6-0-12-2

HOLLAND

Bas Zuiderent not out 63

Tom De Grooth c Hemp b Kelly 9

Ryan ten Doeschate c S.Kelly b H.Durham 65

Maurits van Nierop not out 31

Extras (5lb, 1nb, 5w) 11

Total (for two wickets, 37.5 overs) 179

Did not bat: Daan van Bunge, Mark Jonkman, Tim de Leede, Pieter Seelaar, Jeroen Smits, Billy Stelling, Luuk van Troost

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-114

Bowling: S.Mukuddem 8-1-28-0; S.Kelly 9-2-45-1; J.Tucker 6-0-29-0; D.Leverock 7-0-29-0; H.Durham 7.5-0-43-1

Man-of-the-match: Tim de Leede (Holland)

Umpires: Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe), Jeff Luck (Namibia)

Match referee: Mike Proctor (South Africa)