And a stirring second-half display at a rain-lashed national stadium will ensure that the Scots go up against the country ranked third in the world in a positive mood.

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Yet even when it does, the sun will come up in the morning and life will go on as if nothing is happening, such is the chronic way the world changes.

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Nothing could seemingly go wrong with this indisputably talented team with the best batting line-up in the world.

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Given that only group winners are guaranteed a spot in the World Cup, with runners-up having to go through a two-legged playoff against one of the second-placed nations in one of the other European groups, things could get tricky for the world champions.

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Rather, it's that there aren't as many desperately poor people in the world as there used to be who tighten their belts when prices go up.

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He followed that up with a 78 and a 66, and the pattern continued after the mid-session interval as the two-time world champion rattled in breaks of 53 and 78 to go 6-0 up.

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