World T20 Cup Qualifier, Dubai/Abu Dhabi, February 9-13

Scotland have had two 10-wicket defeats to Kenya this week, after being put in to bat both times. They managed to notch up totals of 109 and 123 before the opening Kenyan partnership of Obuya and Tikolo cruised to victory with plenty of balls to spare on each occasion.

Earlier, Scotland managed to edge out Uganda in a thrilling super-over. The Scots only managed 109 from their 20 overs before a wicket off the last ball saw Uganda fall on the same total. The second match was much more convincing, with Scotland posting their highest-ever T20 total of 163, with Kyle Coetzer hitting 64 and Fraser Watts firing 73.

The Scots have one more warm-up match on Sunday against Kenya in Abu Dhabi to try to salvage some encouragement. But they will have to up their game if they want to have any hope of qualifying for the World Cup. And the real business starts on Tuesday with their first group match against USA in Abu Dhabi.

Scotland's first opponents have a lot to prove, having fallen a lot down the rankings in recent years, and after only gaining entry to this competition via a wild card, along with hosts UAE. However they won the ICC Americas Cup last year, defeating both Bermuda and Canada, who have played in previous World Cups. Captain Steve Massiah thinks things are looking good from across the pond: "We are feeling very positive and very confident," he said. "Judging from the way we played in the last tournament, which was the Americas Cup, we feel good. We want to make the most of the opportunity to play in this event, and we are all looking forward to it." A key inclusion in the American side is that of Lennox Cush, who was part of the Stanford Superstars team that defeated England back in 2008. A genuine all-rounder with first-class hundreds to his name, he has plenty of experience in the short format of the game and played cricket for his native Guyana before moving to the USA. Massiah said: "We have a very balanced team with a wealth of experience, including people who have played at the first-class level. Lennox is very important and experienced and hopefully this will rub off on the other players.

They have come from nowhere in the past couple of years, climbing through the Affiliate and Associate ranks through the World Cricket Leagues. They only played their first-ever official T20 International last Monday, losing to Ireland by five wickets. Afghanistan played in the 2009 Asian T20 Cup, winning all five of their group matches before defeating Kuwait in the semi-final by eight wickets and seeing off the UAE in the final by 84 runs. Mohammad Nabi is a useful all-rounder who claimed the Man of the Match in the final, taking four wickets and scoring 73 runs. The T20 format is the most frequent and popular in Afghanistan. Captain Nawroz Mangal said: "Our group is a tough one, with Ireland and Scotland having loads of international experience. But I am quite optimistic we'll be able to qualify for the World Twenty20. We just need a good start in the tournament and our big boys need to fire throughout the next week."

Scotland's main cricketing rivals will be looking for revenge after rain saved Scotland from defeat when the teams met in the four-day game last summer. Ireland have been touring Sri Lanka, where they have just played a quadrangular series in attempt to acclimatise to the different conditions. They were beaten comfortably by Sri Lanka A by three wickets, with Niall O'Brien scoring 59 off 38 balls in vain. But they bounced back to beat Afghanistan by five wickets, William Porterfield top-scoring with 46 off 30 balls, including 9 fours, and he will a great danger at the top of the order. Veteran Trent Johnston shows he's still got what it takes, with an impressive bowling performance when he took 4-22 off four overs. In their final match, they played out a thriller against Canada, losing by just four runs. Niall O'Brien scored another 50, while Andre Botha took the only three wickets. But Ireland have just been hit with the news that their hugely tall fast bowler Boyd Rankin will be out of the tournament with an ongoing foot injury. Rankin, who plays with Warwickshire, will be sorely missed by the Irish at the front-line of their pace attack. Promising youngsters George Dockrell and Paul Stirling join the squad after being at the U19 World Cup in New Zealand. The Irish will be confident of qualification as the leading Associate nation and after qualifying along with the Netherlands two years ago in Ireland.