English county team Derbyshire opened their six-match tour of Bermuda yesterday on a winning note, as the match was left to be decided on scoring rate after a heavy shower stopped play at 4.05 p.m.

The match was delicately poised at that stage, with Bermuda having made a solid reply to the Derbyshire total and requiring a further 108 off 17.1 overs with seven wickets intact. The Derbyshire run rate for their innings was 4.46 with Bermuda at 3.40 when the match ended.

England paceman Devon Malcolm gained revenge on Bermuda opener Dennis Archer for hitting him for a first-ball six during the England `A' tour a year ago when he tempted him with a couple of short-pitched deliveries in his first over and then sent him back with his fourth delivery as Archer skied his hook shot to John Morris at square leg.

That was in the second over of the match and Bermuda were soon under more pressure when Ricky Hill went off with a badly bruised left hand after being struck by a Malcolm delivery in the sixth over, having scored eight from two delightful boundaries.

Hill had the hand -- the same one he broke playing soccer this season -- checked by the two Derbyshire physiotherapists and is expected to have X-rays once the swelling goes down.

Captain Albert Steede and former captain Arnold Manders steadied things with an important third-wicket stand of 64 in 67 minutes in taking the score from six to 70 as the half-century came up in the 19th over. At that stage Bermuda were ahead on run rate, being 59 after the first 20 overs while Derbyshire were 54 at the same stage of their innings.

The run rate slowed after the pair departed as Noel Gibbons (17 not out) and Jeff Richardson (six not out) were left to consolidate. Manders was bowled by Mortensen for 32 and Steede, after being dropped the following over by wicket-keeper Karl Krikken after skying a shot, went on to make 32 before he played one adventurous stroke too many and was caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Morris off Frank Griffith whom he had just hit for six over long-on.

The wickets were shared by the Derbyshire bowlers with Danish-born Ole Mortensen bowling his allotted 10 overs straight out and finishing with an economical one for 13 while Malcolm was one for 15 from five overs and Griffith one for 34 from 5.5 overs as he came in for some harsh treatment.

Earlier captain Kim Barnett could only manage five runs when he had his off stump uprooted while driving at an Edwards inswinger in the fifth over of the match.

Derbyshire were sent in on a wicket of low bounce and the combination of the slow wicket and good bowling by Edwards and Terry Burgess made runs hard to come by during the early stages.

Three of Bermuda's fielders -- Clevie Wade, Dennis Archer and Ricky Hill -- raised the ire of a few spectators by turning out in maroon West Indies caps complete with the Test team's crest, with Noel Gibbons later batting in a maroon cap.

Even though Burgess conceded 10 runs in his second over he was the pick of the Bermuda bowlers as he regularly beat the batsmen outside the off stump but failed to get an edge.

Derbyshire had just 22 runs on the board after 15 overs as Peter Bowler, their top batsman last season, and vice-captain John Morris tried to build a solid foundation.

They carried the score from 13 to 32 when Wade trapped Bowler lbw for 11 with a delivery that stayed low.

Morris departed soon after when he was caught for 26 by Hill off Gibbons, which brought together Chris Adams and Tim O'Gorman for the team's biggest stand of 77 in 13 overs as Bermuda started to lose their grip on the match.

The pair moved the score from 57 in the 22nd over to 135 by the 35th when O'Gorman attacked spinner Arnold Manders in his first over and Archer took a brilliant catch inches from the ground at long-on. O'Gorman hit three sixes and a four in his 27.

Adams, dropped on 30 by Clevie Wade at mid-wicket off the team's other spinner, Del Hollis, went on to top the Derbyshire batting with 53 as he showed why he is so highly rated as a limited-overs batsman. Adams faced 62 balls and hit three sixes and three fours during his 79 minutes at the crease.

After Griffith (17) and Krikken (14) put on 31 for the sixth wicket, Derbyshire lost four wickets for just eight runs before a last-wicket stand of 33 between Warner and Mortensen (seven not out) carried them past the 200 mark to set Beruda a challenging total.

Edwards, with three wickets in his second spell, was the chief wicket-taker with four for 27 off 10 overs and Gibbons two for 29. Burgess was the most economical Bermuda bowler, giving up just 17 runs off 8.1 overs, while Manders' two wickets in eight overs came at a costly 55 runs and Hollis gave up 34 in just three overs.

"We were a little rusty of course but we're quite pleased,'' said Derbyshire coach Philip Russell afterwards.

"Everybody had a bat and one or two did better than others. It was competitive, your lads fielded well and bowled well. It probably would have been a good finish.'' Bermuda batsman Charlie Marshall return from treatment overseas on Friday and was at the match. He is recovering from muscle spasms in his chest, which was first thought to be a mild heart attack, and expects to be playing in the next few weeks.

CHRIS ADAMS -- On his way to t team-high 53 yesterday. the Bermuda wicket-keeper.