Bermuda's batsmen show patience and grit on day one

Canada won the toss and elected to field. With recent failures with the bat maybe their thinking was it is better to chase a target than to set one. The pitch looked as if it was willing to help any batsman who was prepared to apply themselves.

The decision did pay early dividends when Umar Bhatti, the bowling hero of game one against Kenya, struck quickly sending both openers back to the pavilion with less than 25 runs on the board. . For Bermuda the frustration of finding an opening pair to get the team in gear continues.

What followed this early disaster by Bermuda's batting order was a mixture of determination, patience, grit and the right amount of aggression to entertain the spectators.

The new skipper ( Irvine Romaine) and the past skipper (Clay Smith) came together and this was the start of many partnerships that would see Bermuda end the day in a comfortable position. Romaine assumed the role of the aggressor but never played a rash shot while Smith stayed with him as the two saw the total grow from 21 for 2 to 101 at lunch. Henry Osinde and Umar Bhatti did not make the task an easy one as the two Canadian quickies show some real fire as they tried to put Canada on top.

Romaine in the 19th over ,with Osinde bowling his 10th straight, left no doubt as to who was winning the battle, he smashed 4 fours and a six off Osinde who also contributed 2 no balls and a wide for a 25 run over- almost one third of the entire team score to this point.

The session after lunch saw another quick breakthrough as Romaine left on 61 . Again it was Umar Bhatti leading the Canadian attack. The Romaine -Smith partnership was one short of the century. Smith left shortly after Romaine and Bermuda again slumped to 134/4.

Janeiro Tucker, (Top scorer with 71),Salem Mukuddem with a patient 56 and Lionel Cann with a typical aggressive innings of 48 all contributed to solid team total of 333/9 in the day's play of 96 overs.

Umar Bhatti with figures of 4/91 was Canada's most successful bowler, while left arm spinner Sunil Dhaniram bowled nine overs giving up only eleven runs.

It was a solid day of entertaining cricket from players on both sides and when play starts tomorrow the big question will be can the Canadian batsmen apply the same patience and determination as we saw today from the Bermudan squad.