Cup favourites should be wary of Bangladesh, says coach

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Mar 9 (Reuters) Bangladesh underlined their intentions of springing few surprises at the World Cup after they finished their warm-up games undefeated with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Scotland.

Following on from their stunning two-wicket upset of New Zealand on Tuesday, Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar led from the front with an unbeaten 57 to overhaul Scotland's 152-9 total with more than 15 overs to spare.

''We're improving all the time and I just feel it's becoming more of a reality that the Bangladesh team might cause one or two upsets,'' coach Dav Whatmore told reporters.

''We're ranked ninth ... and most judges around the world would expect the opposition to beat Bangladesh every time there is fixture. So it's also fair to say we could cause an upset or two.'' RARE STATUS Bangladesh, who take on sub-continent rivals India and Sri Lanka as well as Bermuda in Group B clashes when the World Cup begins in earnest next week, enjoyed their rare status as favourites in a match against the amateur Scottish outfit.

Batting first, the Scots made a promising start to reach 73-2 but the dismissal of Ryan Watson in the 23rd over sparked their collapse as Bangladesh unleashed the spinning expertise of Abdur Razzak and Mohammad Rafique on their opponents.

With the duo combining to take five wickets, Whatmore believes the spinning wickets in the Caribbean and the results over the past week will hold his team in good stead.

''This was a game we were supposed to win which is a bit of a reverse of every other team we play who are ranked above us,'' said Whatmore. ''So it was important that we didn't take it lightly.

''We've got to play India and Sri Lanka and getting confidence in competition like this is important for us.

''It will go a long way in that all the boys in the group will be a lot more buoyant and attacking in those games.'' After failing miserably in their two outings in the 3Ws Oval so far Scotland captain Craig Wright did not want to dwell too much on the daunting task ahead. They face champions Australia, top-ranked South Africa and Netherlands in Group A.

''We haven't done ourselves any justice yet. We've carried a lack of form in the warm-up games and hopefully we can improve on that,'' said Wright, who combines his playing career with being Cricket Scotland's marketing manager.

''There is no point in us getting too preoccupied with who we are playing against because if we do that we've lost the game straight away.

''We've got to focus on doing our own jobs well and doing better than we've done in the two matches (against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) and hopefully put on a decent show.'' REUTERS DKS PM0515