The Dutch landscape may not be famous for its mountains, and VRA's ground in Amstelveen is actually below sea level. But the Bermudian side will nevertheless need to climb a mountain on Wednesday if they are to save this Intercontinental Cup match against The Netherlands, since they finished the second day with a deficit of 176 and three second-innings wickets already lost.

The Dutch had resumed on 152 without loss, but it did not take long for the Bermudians to secure the breakthrough which had proved so elusive on Monday evening. In the first over of the morning, bowled by George O'Brien, Alexei Kervezee mistimed his first aggressive stroke and was caught by Dwight Basden at midwicket, and Bas Zuiderent followed two overs later, padding up to an inswinger and being trapped leg before.

But Tom de Grooth was still there, and he moved steadily towards his first first-class century, which came off 126 balls after he had been at the crease for two and a quarter hours. He and Peter Borren added 54 for the third wicket, making sure that their side claimed the six points for a first-innings lead, before Borren was bowled by Dwayne Leverock, but De Grooth and Geert Maarten Mol saw the Dutch through to lunch, when the score was 242 for three.

Mol was run out soon after the interval as a direct hit by Ryan Steede at mid-on beat his desperate dive for the crease. Mudassar Bukhari was typically aggressive, hitting five fours and a big six (the latter off Leverock) in a run-a-ball innings of 28 as The Netherlands set about extending their lead, but De Grooth became much more cautious, taking 116 balls to move from 100 to 150.

By the time he reached that milestone Bukhari had become O'Brien's third victim, followed four balls later by Adeel Raja. Captain Jeroen Smits now joined De Grooth, and they put on a further 70 for the seventh wicket either side of the tea interval as the Dutch lead began to approach 200 and De Grooth's own score did likewise.

It was not to be, however: on 196, after batting for exactly 400 minutes and facing 299 balls, he played a tired stroke off change bowler Stephen Outerbridge and was caught by Irving Romaine at backward point. He had hit 22 boundaries in his marathon innings, and his off driving was at times particularly impressive. He gave just two chances, a difficult one when he was on 29 and a much easier one, to Romaine, just after passing the hundred, and if the Bermudians, especially Steede, were sometimes convinced that they had him plumb, that conviction was never shared by the umpires.

Once he had gone, the tail wagged to some purpose, Jeroen Smits leading the way and receiving good support from Edgar Schiferli and Maurits Jonkman, and the final total was 410. O'Brien removed Schiferli to finish with five for 116 from 32 overs, while Leverock took three for 124.

That gave The Netherlands a lead of 227, and Schiferli struck immediately when Bermuda began their second innings, trapping Outerbridge leg-before with his very first ball to consign the left-hander to a pair. He then took a return catch to dismiss Jekon Edness in the fifth over, and in the ninth Peter Borren took a sensational catch, one-handed and low to his left at second slip to dismiss Basden.

Bermuda were now in serious trouble on 19 for three, but Celestine and Roderick Masters saw their side through to 51 at the close without further loss, despite another bout of fervid appeals. That deficit looks like the north face of the Eiger, but as the rain set in within an hour of stumps being drawn they will be hoping for plenty of interruptions over the next two days.

The Dutch, however, are seven wickets away from an outright win, and will be determined to strike early when the match resumes on Wednesday.