Bermuda first innings, 281

Kenya first innings, 242-5

Bermuda's thin seam attack struggled to come to grips with a dried-out Gymkhana Cricket Club track that assisted the slow bowlers on day two of the Islander's four-day Intercontinental Cup match against hosts Kenya in Nairobi yesterday.

In the absence of the seam trio of Stefan Kelly, George O'Brien Jr. and Ryan Steede, Kevin Hurdle and teenager Malachi Jones encountered a steep uphill battle against a tall Keyan batting order.

Hurdle dealt the Kenyans a heavy blow when he snared the prized wicket of Kenya skipper Steve Tikolo (six) during his third spell. But it was left-arm spinner Dwayne Leverock who inflicted most of the damage with the ball before the Kenyans recovered from 104 for four to end the day poised at 242 for five, with all-rounders Thomas Odoyo (58) and James Kamande (30) in ominous form at the crease.

"It's hard to go into a four-day match with only two recognised seamers. But they (Jones and Hurdle) gave it their all with the new ball," Bermuda skipper Irving Romaine said.

Youngster Jones, whose nine-over burst was spread over four spells, added: "The ball isn't getting any movement off the pitch and really gets scuffed up quickly. So you have to really try and out think the batsmen and get them to make a mistake."

Bermuda's hosts are now within 39 runs of their first innings total and threatening to run away with the match should Hurdle and Jones fail to make inroads when the new ball is taken early this morning.

"Obviously they will be looking to come out of this deficit and bat as long as possible to try and tire us in the field and then try and go for a victory themselves," Romaine said.

"But the new ball is coming in another three overs and hopefully we can pick up some early wickets." Romaine said he was generally pleased to see his team recover after getting off to another rocky start but felt his lower order batsmen were guilty of throwing away their wickets.

"The guys played some big shots towards the end and got caught out instead of batting for time, which we had on our side," he added. "This is a four-day game and we should've occupied the wicket longer to put them further in arrears heading into day three. That would've put more pressure on them but otherwise it was a very good total based on the start we had."

The Keyans began their run chase solidly with openers Maurice Ouma (26) and David Obuya (53) producing 45 runs for the first wicket before Leverock made the initial breakthrough.

Obuya and number three Anthony Suji (five) added another 44 runs for the second-wicket to keep the Keyans firmly on course before Leverock rolled up his sleeves and removed both batsmen in the space of eight runs on a turning wicket.

The noose was then tightened as Hurdle picked up the key wicket of Tikolo and then Interncontinental Cup debutant Tamauri Tucker claimed his first wicket in the competition as the momentum shifted in the Islanders' favour.

But an 87-run fifth-wicket stand between Chris Obuya (53) and Odoyo steadied the ship with the latter proving to be a real thorn in the Islanders' side, having so far added another 49 runs for the sixth wicket with Kamande. Leverock has claimed three for 88 off 30 overs with three maidens so far, Hurdle one for 64 off 16 overs with three maidens and young off spinner Tucker one for ten off five overs.

Earlier, left-arm spinner Henry Varaiya sawed through the Islanders' lower order with the new ball after overnight batsman David Hemp (97) was dislodged three runs shy of a second Intercontinental Cup century.

Much of Bermuda's hopes of reaching the triple century mark rested squarely on the shoulders of Glamorgan skipper Hemp and Leverock (16) when play resumed yesterday morning. But after facing an additional 22 balls and adding 17 runs for the seventh wicket with Leverock the stylish left hander, who gathered 16 boundaries off 227 balls, finally came unstuck when he was caught driving on the front foot to mid-off off the bowling of Peter Ongondo in the 82nd over to give the Kenyans a huge psychological boost.

It was Hemp who masterminded Bermuda's day one revival after the Islanders had slipped to 35 for three by adding 34 runs for the third-wicket with Azeem Pitcher (19), 57 for the fourth with the swashbuckling James Celestine (37), 59 for the fifth with skipper Irving Romaine (42) and another 66 for the sixth along with Janeiro Tucker (33).

Teenager Jones (12 not out) and Hurdle (15) each made valuable contributions down the order as the Islander's tail wagged before the curtains finally came down, with Varaiya leading the Kenyan march.

After Ongondo had made the initial breakthrough by removing Hemp, Varaiya added the scalps of Leverock, Hurdle and tailender Tucker (nought) to his collection on the way to achieving a superb five wicket haul (five for 56), with the seam duo of Odoyo (two for 35) and Ongondo (two for 36) providing good support.