January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Bermuda blitz Uganda
Stephen Outerbridge also blitzed a first one-day century and the pair compiled a double hundred partnership as Bermuda eclipsed Uganda's massive total of 352 with almost two overs to spare.
Needing seven an over from the word go Hemp, who had grafted his way into form earlier in the tournament, played with fluency and panache, rattling along at a rate of just better than a run-a-ball.
When Fiqre Crockwell was trapped lbw for 28, Bermuda had already reached 77 in 12 overs.
They kept rhythmically on pace as Outerbridge joined Hemp at the crease for another mammoth partnership.
The pair put on 180 for the third wicket against Oman on Saturday, running well between the wickets and working the gaps with authority.
They were even better today and Outerbridge, who represents the future of Bermuda cricket, was in commanding form as he powered his way to a deserved century in 92 balls.
When he top edged a pull and was caught off the bowling of Kamuyka for 107, Bermuda were almost home.
A late flurry of boundaries from Lionel Cann, who finally came to the party with 32 not out from 18 balls, and the dominant Hemp, who finished unbeaten on 170 from 141 balls, took them past their target - a record chase on this ground.
Cann brought up the winning runs with a towering six straight back past the bowlers head.
The win was little consolation for Bermuda though. They had hoped to have moved on to Johannesburg this week for the Super 8. Instead they are heading home.
Since exiting the tournament to a chorus of ridicule from the worlds press, with CricInfo leading the condemnation, they have responded magnificently.
Hemp and Outerbridge have been truly phenomenal over the last two games and both feature in the tournament's top five run scorers,
But a late rally to finish 9th should not paper over the cracks of a thoroughly disappointing tournament. And Outerbridge was quick to point out that today's win was too late to make a difference.
"It feels good but it comes at the end of a tournament where we haven't qualified, we've lost one day status, so that's the biggest disappointment still."
It had looked like being another bad day at the office for Bermuda as Uganda tore their makeshift bowling attack to shreds.
With George O'Brien, Jacobi Robinson, Rodney Trott and Janeiro Tucker all unable to bowl they were down to the bare bones.
And Uganda took advantage. Bibodi Nehul played superbly for his century - an innings full of wristy leg glances and late cuts that brought him 109 from 117 balls before he was superbly run out by a direct hit from Tucker - his second of the match.
But the real damage was done by the fearless Frank Msubuga. Wearing a Viv Richards style cloth cap instead of a helmet, he bludgeoned his way to 98 from just 63 deliveries before being bowled by Kyle Hodsoll, two short of his century.
Hodsoll, on his debut in this tournament, finished with 2 for 71 from his ten overs on a day when even the miserly Dwayne Leverock, who opened the bowling and bowled through the power play, went for almost six an over.
Some late order clubbing from Baig Akbar, who made 28 from 12 balls, propelled Uganda to a seemingly unbeatable target of 352.
But nothing is impossible with David Hemp in this kind of form. And so it proved.
Hemp played an innings of pure class as he and Outerbridge made the run chase look easy.
The track and the bowling attack held few demons, but that has been in the case in the past and Bermuda haven't capitalized as they did today.
The two left-handers, particularly the youthful Outerbridge, have shown there is a future for Bermuda cricket. Today was too little, too late for this tournament but there is something to build on for the future at least.
And who is to say that Bermuda can't come back a younger, hungrier, more professional outfit and prove their critics wrong in four years time?
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