Scotland 240/7

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DWAYNE (Sluggo) Leverock ripped the heart out of Scotland's batting as Bermuda dominated the first day of their Intercontinental Cup match at the National Sports Centre yesterday, writes Josh Ball.

Only Fraser Watts, the Scotland captain, provided any real resistance, batting for more than four hours, before he fell agonisingly short of his century.

On a day when the quicker bowlers struggled to make the pitch work for them, it was inevitable that it would be Leverock who would make the breakthrough.

He bowled 37 overs during the day, twice as many as anyone else, and finished with 4-100.

Like the rest of the Bermuda attack however, Leverock struggled with his length on occasion and was duly punished by the Scotland batsmen when he did so.

Too often he dropped the ball short and the only real danger he posed was to teammates Chris Foggo and James Celestine who had to take evasive action on more than one occasion.

Despite his inconsistency he should have also picked up the wicket of Qasim Sheikh moments before lunch, but Foggo, fielding at short leg, ducked too soon in anticipation of a hook shot and missed an easy bat, pad catch.

Sheikh failed to capitalise on the home side's generosity, and was out soon after the interval, caught behind by Jekon Edness, chasing a fullish ball outside the off-stump from O'Brien.

Richie Berrington's stay was equally short, he hit one fine four through the covers before getting his feet all in a tangle trying to charge Rodney Trott and became Edness' third victim of the day.

Trott may well have had a couple of more wickets, but Foggo missed two more chances to remove Watts and Colin Smith.

Leverock finally accounted for Smith and then snapped up the priceless wicket of Watts, who fell agonisingly short of his century, holing out to Steven Outerbridge at deep mid-wicket for 93.

At 182-5 Scotland were in danger of collapsing completely and seemed even closer to doing so when Leverock bowled Neil McCallum round his legs.

Although Haq stood firm, Scotland finished the day on 240-7, and will need to concentrate if they are to post a decent score.

They will need to pick up the pace however. Progress throughout the day was slow, with Scotland taking until the 43 overs to bring up the hundred.

Bermuda's bowlers must take some credit for that, as they generally bowled a tight line, but on a pitch that does little for either batsman or bowler, the game is likely to become more a war of attrition rather than a series of quick fire engagements.