SHARJAH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - The Afghans are an emerging force in world cricket and are expected to seal a comfortable win over the Scots on Saturday but will a hectic schedule of qualifiers help to level the playing field a little?

Three games in three days makes it extremely hard for all teams over the next two weeks and anyone who progresses to the finals next year will have shown great stamina as well as quality in all areas of their play.

On the eve of this tie, the bookmakers have installed Afghanistan as favourites for the win and the best available odds on this outcome are 1.50 with Paddy Power leaving the Scots as the outside punt at a top price of 2.62 with Stan James.

Scotland began their qualification campaign with a disappointing defeat to a strong Bermudan side who ran out winners by 18 runs. Gordon Goudie was the pick of the Scottish bowlers taking 2-16 from just three overs and at the half way point, Kyle Coetzer's men would have been hopeful of chasing down a relatively modest target of 149.

The reply started badly however and the Scots were effectively out of the game at 8-2 after just seven balls. Kotezer and Richie Berrington helped the recovery but after that disastrous opening, their team quickly fell behind the required rate.

Meanwhile, the Afghans also started badly against the Dutch in Sharjah in a match that the bookmakers expected them to win comfortably. Afghanistan batted first and were quickly in trouble at 14-3. There was a mini recovery inspired by opener Mohammad Shahzad but another collapse in the lower order left the Netherlands chasing a dismal total of just 90.

The target was never really in doubt and Holland came through with seven wickets still in the hut and more than seven overs still to be bowled. Scotland are not quite as strong as that Dutch side but unless the Afghans can improve in all three disciplines - batting, bowling and fielding - they could be looking at back to back losses and the real prospect of missing out on a place in the tournament proper in 2014.

The bookies aren't exactly welcoming this batch of qualifiers:  Many are reluctant to declare any prices at all and so far there have been no side markets open ahead of the games. Hopefully that situation may change as the rounds continue but for now, your only option is to speculate on the result.

Scotland have some dangerous players in their side and captain Koetzer is a powerful hitter who has recorded some match winning scores in English county cricket. Berrington can also score big at the top of the order but there isn't the strength in depth and qualification to the tournament proper seems almost impossible.

Afghanistan were very disappointing in that opening game against the Dutch, particularly for those of us who had backed them to win it at 1.40. That outcome shows that a further upset can occur and while Scotland are certainly capable of securing a surprise victory, we expect the Afghans to improve for Saturday's game and to take all the points.

Matt Harris' bet on this match:

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