USA 254-7; Bermuda 173-9

Bermuda's Thanksgiving Day experience at the ICC Americas Division One Championship in Florida yesterday was anything but pleasant as the tournament's defending champions slumped to an 81-run loss against USA.

Chasing 255 for victory, Bermuda's batsmen proved unequal to the task at hand and eventually fell well short of the target.

Yet while Bermuda coach Gus Logie might not have heaped all the blame on his batsmen's effort, he could not hide his obvious displeasure over his team's casual approach in the field that ultimately swung the match in USA's favour.

Through a combination of complacency and a lack of killer instinct, Bermuda allowed their opponents to recover from a shaky 117 for five in the 31st over to go on and post an unassailable total on a pitch that became easier to bat on as the match dragged on.

And after all was said and done former West Indies Test player Logie was far from amused over his team's "indisciplined" performance that ultimately led to their demise.

"We just lost our discipline and it's as simple as that. I think our players realise they did not play to their full potential," he lamented. "We got the early wickets but the pitch dried up and they (USA) scored something like 135 runs in their last few overs.

"At 117 for five and the bulk of their top batsmen back in the pavilion we may have relaxed a bit thinking the game was over. But the game is not over until it's over and it's as simple as that."

He added: "We must learn that whenever we have people on the ropes we have to really and truly hammer it home. We needed to be a little more alert in the field and bowl with more control. In the end we just didn't bowl as well as we could have in the end overs and the Americans capitalised.

"We also had opportunities to win the match but we didn't make the right choices and we have to give credit to USA for putting up the fight they did. They never panicked and played positively and in the end got their just reward."

To say the Americans managed to get themselves out of jail with half their batting order back in the hutch and just 117 runs on the board would be a gross understatement as a 113 run, sixth -wicket stand between top scorer Rashard Marshall (71) and Aditya Thyagarajan (42) virtually batted Bermuda out of the match.

Opener Carl Wright (33) and number three Lennox Cush (33) both made promising starts while Bermuda generously gifted 25 runs in extras, 17 of which were wides.

Justin Pitcher, one of five St.David's Islanders in Bermuda's squad, was the pick of the local bowling with impressive figures of three for 45 followed by off-spinner Rodney Trott who took two for 50 at just over six runs per over.

Bermuda's reply was equally unimpressive with the one exception being the batting of in -form pinch -hitter Lionel Cann who followed up an unbeaten 101 the previous day against minnows Surinam with a well-played 78, thus again proving his critics wrong that he doesn't possess the mental capacity to bat responsively.

Yet even personal milestones would have been the furthest thing away from Cann's mind in the dressing room yesterday as he and his team-mates were left to pick up the pieces after allowing a match that seemed their's for the taking to slip away.

Bermuda seemed well on course despite losing the early wickets of Chris Douglas (one) and Trott (one) as Cann, who hit eight boundaries during his 94-ball knock, and Stephen Outerbridge (41) stitched the innings together by adding 83 runs for the third- wicket.

However, just when it appeared there would be light at the end of the tunnel Bermuda were dealt a telling blow when Cann left the crease with a muscle strain to his right leg as his departure ignited a slide that saw skipper Irving Romaine (one), Outerbridge, wicketkeeper-batsman Jekon Edness (0) and David Hemp (12) all make cameo appearances at the crease as USA began to tighten the noose.

"Lionel got injured and had to be taken off and of course the wheels fell off after that," Logie added. "Lionel already had a strain on his left leg and it became very difficult for him to continue on.

"Everything just changed from that point because Lionel was going well and looking the part. He was working the ball around and then out of the blue he pulled another muscle."

Courageously, Cann returned to the crease after Outerbridge and Edness were run out on with no addition to the total on direct hits from the covers. But he only managed to add 15 runs to his total before he became the seventh -wicket to fall, leaving his tail-end batsmen little else to cling to other than pride before the overs eventually expired.

Imran Awan (three 16) led the USA attack while all-rounder Lennox Cush and Sudesh Dhariram shared four -wickets between them.

With the fate of their Americas title defence hanging in the balance, Bermuda must now rely on other results to go their way when the six-nation tournament resumes tomorrow following today's rest day.

Bermuda take on Argentina tomorrow and Canada on Sunday in their final two outings.

"Our guys realise they still have some way to go to reach their full capabilities and I'm sure they will be able to pick themselves up," Logie said. "We must learn to believe in our own capability and then go out onto the pitch and execute."

b>Bermuda v USA

USA innings

S.Nadkarni c D.Leverock b J.Pitcher 16

C.Wright c S.Kelly b D.Leverock 33

L.Cush b D.Borden 31

S.Massiah (capt) b R.Trott 17

S.Dhariram lbw R.Trott 7

A.Thyagarajan c S.Kelly b J.Pitcher 42

R.Marshall b J.Pitcher 71

O.Baker not out 11

I.Awan not out 1

Extras (5-lb, 17w, 3nb) 25

Total (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 254

Did not bat: N.Javed, S.Munir

Fall of wicket: 1-45, 2-84, 3-99, 4-114, 5-117, 6-230, 7-252.

Bowling: S.Kelly 10-0-68-0, J.Pitcher 9-0-45-3, D.Leverock 10-0-31-1, D.Borden 10-0-32-1, R.Trott 8-1-50-2, I.Romaine 3-0-23-0

Bermuda innings

C.Douglas b I.Awan 1

L.Cann lbw I.Awan 78

R.Trott b I.Awan 1

S.Outerbridge run out (S.Dhariram) 41

I.Romaine (capt) c S.Nadkarni b L.Cush 1

D.Hemp c R.Marshall b Dhariram 12

J.Edness run out (Dhariram) 0

D.Borden not out 17

S.Kelly b Dhariram 0

J.Pitcher b Cush 4

D.Leverock not out 3

Extras (3-lbs, 6w, nb1) 10

Total: (for nine, wkts, 50 overs) 173

Fall of wicket: 1-19, 2-21, 3-104, 4-124, 5-124, 6-141, 7-143, 8-147, 9-161

Bowling: I.Awan 8-1-16-3; S.munir 5-0-38-0; L.Cush 10-1-25-2; O.Baker 5-0-20-1; N.Javed 10-1-43-1; S.Dhariram 10-0-18-2; S.Messiah 2-0-5-0.

Toss: Bermuda.