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Bermuda skipper Irving Romaine has challenged his top order to bat Namibia out of the game today after rain curtailed an excellent start to their first innings.

Chris Douglas (14*) and Jekon Edness (36*) were well set with Bermuda on 91 for 1 when the heavens opened just after 3pm yesterday on day two of this four-day Intercontinental Cup Match.

Earlier Sarel Burger - one of four Burgers in a Namibian line-up that reads like a McDonalds menu - had shepherded his side to 320 all out.

But both sides spent a frustrating afternoon sitting off in the dressing room, playing tennis ball cricket or kicking a rugby ball around the outfield, itching to get back on and continue what is shaping up to be an engaging contest.

'Frustrating' was the word that kept resurfacing in the post-match interviews and it pretty much summed up the day for both sides.

First Namibia frustrated Bermuda in the field, eking out 56 runs for the last wicket to take their total beyond 300.

Then after Dwayne Leverock, once again the pick of Bermuda's bowlers with 3 for 88, had finally dismissed Sarel Burger to end the Namibian innings, it was the Africans turn to feel the pain.

Seamers failed

Their seam attack failed to get any pace or bounce out of a slow, turning pitch and Bermuda defiantly accumulated runs with a degree of composure not always shown at this level.

Jekon Edness broke free on a couple of occasions to clear the ropes with huge sixes, but for the most part the Bermudian bats were happy to quietly pick off the singles.

Only Oronde Bascome was back in the pavilion, trapped lbw by Kola Burger for 25, when the rains came.

"It was a frustrating morning, definitely," said Romaine. We didn't expect their innings to go on so long. We missed a few chances, but that happens in cricket. We came back well in the afternoon. Jekon and Chris were looking good out there and it's just a shame the rain came when it did."

Romaine believes there is still plenty of time for a result in this match and is looking to his batsmen for a big day today.

"We are looking for a really good batting performance. Chris and Jekon are well set and we're looking for one of them to go on and get a hundred.

"They've just got to be patient and keep doing what they're doing."

Namibia skipper Louis Burger hinted he could turn to spin in an effort to bowl Bermuda out today after his seamers toiled with little success yesterday.

"We've got quite a good seam attack but it's a slow pitch, it's not really carrying through to the keeper.

"There's a lot of turn out there. The pitch is deteriorating already, you can see the footmarks, so hopefully that might be an advantage when the spinners get on."

Louis' brother Sarel Burger was the mainstay of his team's innings with 86.

But JB Burger, who also starred with 42 and Kola Burger, who took the wicket, are not related.

Louis said he was more than happy with the first innings total of 320.

"I was happy with the 280 we got on day one. I thought that was a reasonable score on that wicket. To get an extra 40 runs was great."

Burger felt Namibia were beginning to find their rhythm with the ball when play was stopped.

"It's frustrating not to be playing," he said as the rain swept across the National Sports Centre yesterday evening, a thick bank of black cloud overhead.

"We came here to play cricket and hopefully we can make the time up over the next two days."

He's still confident that his in-form side, who came into this game having won five out of five in this competition, can pick up early wickets tomorrow and go on and win the game.

"We've played some good cricket and hopefully we can go on and get a result from this game."

Scorecard

Namibia 320 all out (Sarel Burger 86, Gerrie Snyman 58, JB Burger 42, Dwayne Leverock 3 for 88, Delyone Borden 2 for 56) lead Bermuda 91 for 1 (Oronde Bascome 25, Jekon Edness 36*) by 229 runs after two days.

Play starts tomorrow at 10am at the NSC.

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