Scotland, Afghanistan battle for survival

On paper, the 17th match of the 2015 ICC World Cup appears little more than a battle for bragging rights between two of the tournament's less-fancied teams. Neither Scotland or Afghanistan are expected to make it to the quarter-finals, but considering the ICC's plan to shrink the World Cup to ten teams in 2019 and the reduction of opportunities for Associate nations to improve at the highest level, making as many ticks in the W column is of utmost importance to them.

At every juncture of Scotland's World Cup campaign, Preston Mommsen has found himself defending his team's position as minnows. He has spoken of how they have nothing to prove because they won matches to qualify for the World Cup, but equally he has emphasised the importance of taking points home because of the make-up of the 2019 tournament. Scotland and Afghanistan have needed to win every match because there is so much riding on the success of the Associates.

Scotland have lost both their matches, to New Zealand by three wickets and England by 119 runs, while Afghanistan lost to Bangladesh by 105 runs and Sri Lanka by four wickets. Yet both teams will know that victories were close in one each of their previous games, and that with a bit more runs, they could beat Full Member teams. Right here in Dunedin, Scotland had New Zealand seven wickets down chasing 143 and Afghanistan reduced Sri Lanka to 51 for 5 and then 178 for 6 when defending 233. More is needed, and the two sides should know just what that is.

That Scotland have not been competitive enough so far in this World Cup owes largely because not enough players have delivered in tandem. Against New Zealand, from 12 for 4 the team was carried by Matt Machan's 56 and Richie Berrington's 50, but the innings gave way once the pair was separated. Against England, barring Kyle Coetzer's splendid 71 the next best contribution was Mommsen's 26. The hard-hitting opener Calum MacLeod has yet to click, making 0 and 4, and that has meant early pressure on the batting.

Despite two defeats, Mommsen could take positives from the team's performance, especially considering that apart from the offspinner Majid Haq, no member of the squad had played in a World Cup before this. "It's been vital to get that experience under the belt and bank that. Obviously, it's one thing talking about playing in a World Cup, but actually doing it, on the day there's so much that goes on, there's far more pressure," he said.

"But, I think we're better for those two games and the experience of that, and I think we've played good cricket in parts in both those games, but just not for long enough. I think England, the way we came back with the ball in the second half of the first innings was a great credit to our bowlers, to only restrict them to 300. I thought that was a brilliant effort. And with the bat we've threatened at times, just, as I said, not being able to do those good things for long enough and get those bigger partnerships to have a proper crack at chasing those totals. We do take a lot from those first two games."

Scotland made two changes for the England game in Christchurch, swapping Hamish Gardiner and Rob Taylor with Freddie Coleman and Alasdair Evans. While Coleman made just 7 at No 3, seamer Evans was the most economic Scotland bowler with 1 for 46 off his ten overs. It is likely that Coleman will be persisted with, because Gardiner doesnt have much form to show for.

Afghanistan improved on 162 all out against Bangladesh by posting 232 against Sri Lanka, but they should have gotten more from a scoreline of 138 for 2 after 27 overs. The problem has been starts and finishes - the middle order has done well - and against Scotland, those are areas which they will hope to improve ahead of bigger tests with Australia, New Zealand and England. With allrounder Mirwais Ashraf injured and unlikely to recover for the game, one of Nasir Jamal and Gulbadin Naib could come in.

"We learned a lot of things from the Sri Lanka game, and hopefully we are doing good against Scotland," said Afghanistan opener Javed Ahmadi. "They are also one of the ICC Associate members and they're doing good in this tournament, as well, so we will try our best and look forward. It's very important for us, especially because both sides are Associate member, and hopefully we beat Scotland strongly. That would be very good because we're showing our country."

The two teams have played each other eight times in ODIs, with Afghanistan holding a 5-3 advantage over Scotland. During the Dubai Triangular Series played in January, the two results between the teams were contrasting: in the first, Afghanistan chased down 238 with eight wickets and 42 balls remaining but in the second, set 214, they were bowled out for 63 in 18.3 overs.

Mommsen felt that the last match would be added inspiration for Scotland. "We take a huge amount of confidence from that game in Abu Dhabi, huge psychological advantage, I think. We had a clear, clear strategy and tactic against them, and I'm pretty sure that we'll resort to the same formula tomorrow," he said. "In terms of our approach to Afghanistan, yes, I think you will see a slightly different approach in the way we play. Generally, a Scotland-Afghanistan game is quite feisty and there's quite a bit of passion on display, quite a bit of aggression, and I think tomorrow will be no different."

Wednesday afternoon was chilly, with temperatures dropping to 12 degrees as drizzle fell on the city, but the forecast for game day is only marginally better. The overcast conditions and Dunedin's Scottish heritage, hoped Mommsen, would work in Scotland's favour. "We're hoping this would almost be like a home game for us with the support that we'll hopefully have tomorrow," he said. "We're used to playing against Afghanistan in the UAE where they have thousands and thousands of support, and that genuinely does make a difference for the way they play. Hopefully for once we'll have more support than they'll have, and that'll give us an extra edge."

Probable XIs

Scotland: 1 Kyle Coetzer, 2 Calum MacLeod, 3 Freddie Coleman, 4 Matt Machan, 5 Preston Mommsen (capt), 6 Richie Berrington, 7 Matthew Cross (wk), 8 Josh Davey, 9 Majid Haq, 10 Alasdair Evans, 11 Iain Wardlaw.

Afghanistan: 1 Javed Ahmadi, 2 Nawroz Mangal, 3 Asghar Stanikzai, 4 Samiullah Shenwari, 5 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Afsar Zazai (wk), 8 Nasir Jamal/Gulbadin Naid, 9 Dawlat Zadran, 10 Hamid Hassan, 11 Shapoor Zadran