The margin of victory was just as close as in the opening match of Australia's 1991 tour when they beat St. George's by 18 runs.

And considering they are the world champions, a lot of people would have left Somerset Cricket Club last evening satisfied that Bermuda took this match to a close finish.

But not captain Albert Steede. He knew that with a better contribution from some key batsmen, Bermuda could have created a major upset in this final game of the Aussies three-match tour.

Only an unbroken last wicket stand of 32 in just 17 minutes from 4.4 overs between Anthony Manders (23 not out) and David Adams (27 not out) enabled Bermuda to pass the 200 mark, though the match was over by the time Adams came to the wicket after spinner Shane Warne had taken wickets on successive deliveries to make it 175-9.

"It was still no reflection on how we played,'' a disappointed Steede said afterwards. "The other two departments (bowling and fielding) were above average but our batting needs more discipline.

"We had a solid line-up so there was no excuse for a low score. If somebody in the top four, in particular, had gotten over 50 we could have achieved that target. Every time we play it's a different team so we can never gel, but we gave a good effort considering the opposition.'' Australia captain Mark Taylor admitted the batting did not come good on what was the best batting wicket of the tour.

"We should have made more runs. I was surprised how low scoring the game was,'' said Taylor who, like Steede, led his team's batting. "The wicket was outstanding and I was surprised we didn't make about 280.'' The two teams had plenty in common yesterday. A second wicket stand proved to be the biggest for both teams, after their first wicket went down in the third over.

And though both teams scored quickly in the early stages of their innings, they were soon curtailed by some good bowling and fielding.

That was particularly true in the Australia innings when it looked at one stage as if they would pass 300, having taken just nine overs and 33 minutes to post their first 50.

Their first wicket had fallen by then and it took a second wicket stand of 111 between Taylor (58) and Ricky Ponting (56) to get them back on course.

Taylor scored his runs off 70 balls in 89 minutes with four fours and two sixes while youngster Ponting got his runs off 60 balls before falling to a catch at square leg by Bruce Perinchief off Richard Basden.

Basden, brought on in the 12th over after Australia had 72 on the board, succeeded not only in slowing the scoring but also took some important wickets before he finished his spell in the 31st over. His 10 overs went for just 36 runs and included the wickets of both Taylor and Ponting as well as Steve Waugh who was out first ball in the 23rd over.

Together with spinners Bruce Perinchief and David Adams, Basden helped keep the Aussies from running amok, though Greg Blewett offered some resistance with 26 in the middle order and bowler Bernard Julian made a useful 21 before he became the first of Clarkie Trott's three wickets in his second spell.

Trott finished with four for 66 from 8.2 overs while Adams celebrated his Bermuda debut with two for 35 off 10 overs.

Australia were relieved to get the early wicket of Ricky Hill in the third over of the Bermuda innings, trapped lbw by Julian for four. "We remember him from '91,'' said Taylor, referring to Hill's sparkling 64 for Bermuda at the same ground four years ago.

A second wicket stand of 53 between captain Albert Steede and Olin Jones raised the hopes of the large crowd but it went downhill once the skipper departed, having struck 32 from four boundaries in 57 minutes before spinner Shane Warne bowled him in his second over -- the 18th of the match. That made it 61-2, the 50 having come up in the 11th over in 42 minutes, and after that runs got harder to come by as even the least recognised of the Australia bowlers, Ponting and Boon bowled tight spells.

"It looks easy from the outside looking in but they are first class bowlers and even their `junk' bowlers bowled a good line and length,'' said Steede.

"When we get four or five good balls per over is when we need to apply ourselves as batsmen. It's just patience, waiting for the bad ball. When they batted every bad ball was a boundary.'' Jones scored 19 patient runs before he was stumped by wicketeeper Ian Healy in the 23rd over off Boon who was bowling his first over of gentle off-spinners.

The further Bermuda fell behind the run rate, with just 22 runs coming between the 10th and 20th overs while Carl Rackemann and Ponting were operating, the more they were forced to take chances against tight bowling in order to get back on course.

Basden was caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Blewett off a Waugh full toss for 19 and after Graham Fox was trapped lbw by Julian, Arnold Manders also went for a big hit and was caught at short fine leg by 'keeper Healy who had plenty of time to get under the skied ball.

That made it 116-6 but Anthony Manders, another player making his Bermuda debut, offered some resistance with 23 not out in 48 minutes while Roger Blades hit a brisk 18 in a quick stand of 30 for the seventh wicket with Manders. However, by that time the match was firmly in Australia's favour as the target for Bermuda crept up to eight runs an over in the last 13 overs.

Later, with eight overs left, 65 runs were still needed.

When last man Adams joined Manders 51 runs were still needed, and at least they made it exciting for the crowd by taking up the challenge as Adams showed he can hold a bat, too, by stroking 27 not out in 17 minutes with four fours and a six.

Warne finished with three for 11 off 10 overs with five maidens, three in succession, while Julian and Rackemann each took two wickets.

Photos by David Skinner LEADING BY EXAMPLE -- Australian skipper Mark Taylor cracked his side's top score of 58 during yesterday's victory over Bermuda at Somerset.

ON THE ATTACK -- Australian batsman David Boon puts more runs on the board during his innings of 17 in Saturday's victory over the BCBC President's XI.

Keeping wicket is Kwame Tucker. See report, page 25.