Namibia 320

Bermuda 91-1

***

HEAVY rain denied Bermuda the chance to bat themselves into a good position against Namibia in their ICC Intercontinental Cup match at the National Sports Centre yesterday.

Having dismissed the visitors for 320 in the morning, Bermuda went about chasing down the total in a confident manner.

Oronde Bascome and Jekon Edness put on 59 for the first wicket, and when Bascome was out lbw to Kola Burger for 25, Chris Douglas took over.

Edness (36 not out) and Douglas (14 not out) then guided the home side to 91-1 before the rain fell.

Neither batsman was in any trouble, and such was the ease with which they dealt with the Namibia attack, that Edness was able to smash Sarel Burger for two straight sixes.

In truth, as good as Namibia's batting had been, their bowling let them down. Too often they bowled short, wide, and failed to put any pressure on the Bermuda batsmen.

They look unlikely to be able to take 20 wickets, a task made harder by the loss of play yesterday.

But then, neither do Bermuda.

There was a strong sense of déjà vu at the start of the day when Namibia managed to add 40 valuable runs to their overnight score of 280-9.

In the game against Scotland, Bermuda were unable to remove the last man, and then they had two recognised pace bowlers. Against Namibia they are down to just one, Stefan Kelly.

Ryan Steede injured himself on the first day, and George O'Brien was not fit to start, and so the task of trying to take all the wickets has fallen to Kelly and the spinners in the side, Dwayne Leverock, Delyone Borden, and Rodney Trott.

That is not to say that these bowlers are not capable of taking wickets, but it leaves little room for variation, and in those conditions Sarel Burger and Louis Klazinga flourished.

Klazinga, the number 11, especially made a difference, finishing on 30 not out, and in the end the pair had put on 56 for the last wicket.

Bermuda though will fancy their chances of making a game of it, and should certainly feel confident of making a good score today.