Bermuda put up a good fight in the second ODI of the Scotiabank Tri-series, but couldn’t contain the West Indian batsmen and fell by 6 wickets, with 109 balls to spare. There were a few early flurries for Bermuda, but in the end they were no match for the travelling West Indies side.

Having been put in to bat, Bermuda came out with a clear plan of safe batting, hoping to bat out the full 50 overs and set at least a respectable target for their opponents to chase. However, their plan looked to be going poorly in the early going. Oronde Bascombe was first to go, bowled by Daren Powell in just the second over, and fellow opener Jekon Edness followed him into the pavilion shortly thereafter when Jermoe Taylor sent his off stump cartwheeling.

It all looked bleak for Bermuda until Chris Douglas – playing in just his second ODI – got his bat going. The youngster batted confidently and showed no fear in the face of test-level pace bowling. He carried the Bermuda innings, and was thrilled to make his maiden ODI half century off of 98 balls, including 6 boundaries in making that score.

However, nobody else was able to bat as well as Douglas did. Captain Irving Romaine looked to be getting his eye in when he got an unfortunate edge through to Carlton Baugh behind the stumps with his score on 20. Lionel Cann was overzealous and found himself stumped on 17 when he was beaten by a Nikita Miller delivery.

Dwayne Leverock was moved up to ninth in the order and batted safely and defensively, allowing Bermuda to last the full 50 overs. He scored 20 not out off of a patient 60 balls faced. Douglas fell to late-innings aggression as he flew it to Sewnarine Chattergoon on the long off boundary. Bermuda made it through their innings, but made just 158 runs for 9 wickets lost – a respectable total, but one that should not pose a problem for bats of the quality of the West Indies.

Nikita Miller was the pick of the West Indian bowlers, taking 3 wickets and conceding just 19 runs in 10 overs of bowling. Kemar Roach took 2 wickets for 29 runs and Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell took a wicket each for 22 and 32 runs respectively. Brendan Nash took a wicket on his debut, but was taken for 44 runs – expensive given the context.

The West Indian run chase got off to the best start possible – for Bermuda! Ryan Steede lured Xavier Marshall to chase a wide delivery and he was caught behind for a duck. Sewnarine Chattergoon didn’t last much longer, and West Indies were two down in the fourth over.

However, the second wicket fell for 31 runs, as the Bermuda bowlers were sloppy and wayward, bowling wides, no balls, and long hops that were dispatched around the ground by some professional batsmen. Leon Johnson and Shawn Findlay were getting set in, when the man they call Sluggo took a blinder. Leverock was stationed at slip and plucked an edged ball from millimetres off the ground with his left hand while diving across. That catch will be a candidate for catch of the year, and it sent Leon Johnson away for 27 runs.
But from there, West Indies had little problem guiding the ship home, playing sensibly and waiting for bad balls to punish. Ramnaresh Sarwan led the way with his 49 not out, and Brendan Nash partnered well with him, contributing 27 not out. Shawn Findlay did well also, scoring 41 off just 35 balls before being bowled by Delyone Borden.

Delyone Borden was the best Bermuda bowler, taking 2 wickets, but was expensive with 38 runs conceded in 8 overs. Ryan Steede got the early wicket, but was carted for 21 runs in 2 overs and didn’t see the ball subsequently. Stefan Kelly returned figures of 1 for 22 in 5 overs, while Dwayne Leverock was his usual stingy self, allowing 31 runs in 10 overs, but failing to take a wicket.

So Bermuda are eliminated from this tri-series, and West Indies book a date with Canada in the finals. They’ll play Canada on Friday in a match that means little, and then again on Sunday in the finals.