LAST Tuesday, Scotland came within a few inches - the distance by which Matt Machan's run-out attempt missed Shapoor Zadran's stumps - of recording their first World Cup victory.
The very next ball Zadran nonchalantly swatted an Iain Wardlaw full toss to fine leg for four. So Afghanistan, and not Scotland, became the 16th international team to win a match at the World Cup.
If Scotland's wait for their inaugural World Cup victory - now stretching to 11 matches over 16 years - is to end in 2015, it will surely be against Bangladesh on Thursday. After that, only daunting games against Sri Lanka and Australia remain.
The Saxton Oval, a boutique ground in small-town Nelson, has already been the venue for one notable associate triumph this tournament, when Ireland dispensed of the West Indies. It was a result that highlighted Ireland's claims to belong on the world stage.
While Scotland have traditionally been Ireland's superior on the pitch, and have more active cricketers than their Celtic rivals, a chasm has emerged in how the two nations are viewed by the rest of the cricketing world. To many, a Scottish victory over Bangladesh would be more surprising than Ireland trumping the West Indies.
At least Scotland can draw on memories of beating Bangladesh in their most recent encounter. Scotland have travelled a long way in the three years since a side led by the amateur Gordon Drummond recorded a T20 win in the Netherlands in 2012. Six members of the World Cup squad played that day, including Richard Berrington, whose even 100 remains the only century scored by a Scot against a Test-playing nation.
That needs to change if Scotland are to belatedly record a landmark win. Scotland at least topped 200 for the first time against Afghanistan, but even that was owed largely to a 62-run partnership for the ninth wicket.
Batting is supposed to be Scotland's strength, and a series of terrific displays underpinned the team's magnificent seven straight wins in the World Cup qualifiers last year. Yet that only makes the batsmen's lackadaisical performance in the opening three games all the more disappointing. On each occasion Scotland have rallied after a meek start, thanks to substantive partnerships for the fifth wicket against New Zealand, and the fourth against England and Afghanistan. These hard-won gains have then been carelessly frittered away.
Against Afghanistan, six players were dismissed between 23 and 31.
"We had the opportunity to really nail it in and get a very good first inning score," skipper Preston Mommsen said. "That is disappointing. That is something that we need to look at as a batting group. Guys are getting in, doing all the hard work, and then not going on to make it count."
Perhaps it is unfair to single any batsman out, but the dismissal of Machan, clean bowled after backing away and attempting to heave Mohammad Nabi's off-spin through the offside, was particularly regrettable. He had cruised to 31 from just 28 balls, reaffirming the fine impression created by his 56 against New Zealand. Machan is capable of far more substantive offerings, of underpinning Scotland's batting just as his county skipper Ed Joyce does for Ireland. If he can prove as much against Bangladesh, Nelson might just have a second Celtic victory of the World Cup to toast.
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