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Bangladesh hope to run through Scots by fielding first

Bangladesh's Mashrafe Mortaza catches the ball successfully to dismiss Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya during the tri-series one-day international cricket tournament in Dhaka January 14, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj/Files

(Reuters) - Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza firmly laid down the gauntlet to Scotland as his side seek to move within sight of a World Cup quarter-final place by choosing to field in their Pool A clash in Nelson on Thursday.A win for Bangladesh would give them breathing room ahead of England in the standings, with their showdown in Adelaide on March 9 almost certain to decide fourth spot in the pool. The small ground has produced plenty of runs in the tournament so far, though it has helped the bowlers in the first hour. "It looks to be a bit of moisture in the wicket and we hope to get the ball to swing a bit," Mortaza said in a pitchside interview. "Then we will chase the total down." Bangladesh have won all three games against Scotland, though their last completed encounter was in 2006. Scotland, however, showed promise in their loss to New Zealand but threw away the possibility of their first World Cup victory against Afghanistan. Preston Mommsen's side had the debutants nine down only for last-wicket pair Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan to get the 19 runs needed for their first victory. Mommsen said his side had found that defeat tough to swallow but decided to give the team a few days off before regrouping in Nelson, with many spending time at some of the region's picturesque beaches. Bangladesh - Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Nassir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain Scotland - Kyle Coetzer, Calum MacLeod, Hamish Gardiner, Matt Machan, Preston Mommsen (captain), Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Majid Haq, Alasdair Evans, Iain Wardlaw (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Napier; Editing by Ed Osmond)