finally bury the ghosts of 1990 at Ruaraka Sports Club yesterday.

An excellent fielding performance was backed up by a half-century from Clay Smith and 48 not out from Charlie Marshall that carried Bermuda into the quarter-final round robin with a convincing six-wicket victory over Denmark.

Bermuda now go on to face Canada, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates, who clinched first place in group B yesterday with an impressive six-wicket win over tournament second seeds Bangladesh.

The top two will go through to the semifinals from which three teams will qualify for the World Cup to be hosted in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka in 1995-96. The other quarter-final group is comprised of top seeds Holland, third seeds Kenya, Bangladesh and Hong Kong, the surprise package of the last eight.

Denmark, in the preparation for yesterday's crucial match-up, had a chat with Hong Kong personnel and it was decided that they would carry extra spinners and ask Bermuda to field if given the opportunity.

But it all backfired as the pitch at Ruaraka was not susceptible to spin and Bermuda comfortably dealt with the task of scoring at an asking rate of just over three runs an over.

There was an early setback as luckless skipper Albert Steede was adjudged lbw for five in Ole Mortensen's fourth over with the score 10.

But Clay Smith and Dexter Smith set the ship right in a second-wicket stand of 55 from 88 balls.

Dexter Smith looked set for a third ICC half-century until Leje Slebsager held a good catch at short cover off skipper Mogens Seider. Smith had made 31 from 65 balls and hit five fours.

Clay Smith, on 23 at the time, then took charge with Marshall at the other end. They added 32 in quick time with Smith racing to 51 from 66 balls when he was bowled between bat and pad by off-spinner Seider.

That dismissal held up the match for a while as the ball ricocheted into the face of wicket-keeper Jesper Gergersen and opened a gash above his left eye.

It was the second time Gergersen had been dealt such a blow as he needed six stitches in the same area earlier in the tournament when he was hit against Fiji.

Smith, who batted for 87 minutes, hit eight fours.

Denmark had every reason to believe they could turn the match with the two Smiths back in the pavilion at 97 for three with 21 overs left.

Marshall and new batsman Arnold Manders started cautiously but eventually put on 23 before Manders became Seider's third victim, caught behind for six.

That marked the end of Denmark's success as Marshall and an aggressive Noel Gibbons brought home the bacon.

Gibbons struck 38 not out from 33 balls, including five fours as he took advantage of the desperate field placings Denmark were forced into.

The patient Marshall hit eight fours from the 65 balls he faced in 105 minutes, the winning boundary prompting a resounding sing-a-long from the `Bermuda Band' led by Clay Smith and Dean Minors.

"We had an all-round good performance, great performance from the batsmen, the bowlers and the fielders,'' said Steede. "If the Bermuda public was to see us field today I think they would have been very, very proud of us.

"The bowlers bowled extremely well, they are getting better and better as each game progresses.

"Our batsmen showed a lot of application today. The few batsmen that got stuck in, Dexter, Clay, Charlie and Noel Gibbons, I must commend them for an excellent job today, because that's just what we needed. It is just not one person carrying the load for Bermuda, it is a collective effort, which is very good and I am very proud of how the guys are playing.'' The fielding performance again underlined the great strides made by the bowlers since they left the Island for a Christmas tour of Jamaica.

Anthony Edwards claimed two for 37 from 10 overs to take his tournament haul to 11 while Clevie Wade took two for 22 and leg-spinner Bruce Perinchief two for 32 at the `death' when Denmark were trying to get away.

Edwards made the initial breakthrough in the sixth over when he had Mogens Christiansen caught behind for one.

Five overs later, Wade got in on the act with a double strike in his very first over. With his first ball Wade trapped Henrik Pfaff playing across the line and he was out lbw for three. And two balls later, Aftab Ahmed (four) became the second of Minors' three caught behind dismissals.

The going got tough for Bermuda from here as opener Atif Butt and number five Gregersen stabilised things for Denmark.

The pair added 123 from 184 balls for the fourth wicket but to their credit Bermuda always kept the run rate under four.

During that partnership in particular Bermuda saved at least 30 runs in the field with Steede and Marshall proving difficult to pass inside the circle.

Marshall's effort was especially uplifting as he dislocated the pinky finger on his left hand as early as the third over.

Butt went on to make 70 from 124 balls before he was caught on the long-off boundary by Gibbons off Perinchief's bowling.

From 149 for four, Denmark lost their way as Perinchief trapped Gregersen lbw for 53 with a straight ball, then Edwards and Gibbons picked up wickets soon after their recall.

Soren Vestergaard (22 not out) and Mortensen (six not out) batted through the final six overs with the addition of 25 runs. But it would be at least 25 runs too little for an improving Bermuda team to chase.

The next step is Canada at Simba Union tomorrow.

"Every match from here is going to be difficult,'' added Steede, "but if we continue to play the way we have been playing I see no reason why we can't make it to the semifinals.'' CLAY SMITH -- Half-century -- and sing-a-long -- carried Bermuda into quarter-final round robin.