WE are hard on our national cricket team in Scotland. Writers, fans, sponsors, even administrators . . . we are hard to please. We castigate and criticise players who are already feeling bad enough after having egos battered and dreams shattered, players who almost invariably give their all whether the stage is opulent or obscure.

In the immediate aftermath of Scotland’s 11th World Cup defeat, all I saw in the media was sympathy. All I felt was sympathy. There was no barbed, embittered backlash and no finger-pointing.

This had been a landmark encounter because neither country had ever won a World Cup match. Two sets of players had fought like gladiators for the right to say that they were there the day they left a footprint on the globe, and unless it was going to be a tie there had to be a loser. Neither side deserved to lose.

With their courage they had painted cricket, a sport in conflict with the devil on its shoulder, in a bright light. Future World Cups were probably the last thing on the players’ minds but they inadvertently made a powerful case not to be cast back into obscurity.

There were numerous moments when Scotland could have given up on winning the game. There were numerous moments when Afghanistan could have given up on winning the game. It was a seven-hour game of chicken made memorable by two exceptional ninth-wicket partnerships.

I have seen Scotland, and the Scottish Saltires, lose a lot of cricket matches and there have been submissive performances. The way they turned this one around convinced me, when Afghanistan lost their seventh wicket, to put a flag in the ground on Twitter and declare Dunedin to be Scottish territory. I wouldn’t do this unless I believed there was no way back for the opposition. I duly submit an application to join the society of observers who have underestimated Afghanistan, the authors of a real-life cricketing fable.

Scotland had bowled and fielded with an adherence to detail and discipline that bordered on the microscopic. I could not see them failing to take three more wickets. Even when Majid Haq had three balls cast into the crowd in one over, I felt sure that if he went over the wicket, he would cramp Samiullah Shenwari’s style and get him out. And so it proved. I wish he had done it earlier but this should have been the decisive moment.

At the end of those 50 overs the only Scottish blemishes were one dropped catch, one missed run out, a handful of self-defeating short balls and a conspicuous failure to bowl the unplayable yorker. To err is human, as the saying goes. So defiant were their opponents that this minuscule list of transgressions was enough to deny them their prize.

Matt Machan will be haunted by that under-arm shy at the stumps, a regulation chance that, with Shapoor Zadran out of his ground, eluded him. He might have hit the stumps 19 times out of 20 in training. Haq will not be haunted by his dropped catch because, like the Afghans, he rationalises victory and defeat in the context of his faith.

Eight years ago Scotland had surrendered in pathetic fashion to the Netherlands in Basseterre, St Kitts, leaving barely a mark on the World Cup. An hour later most of the squad were digesting Craig Wright’s resignation with long, sullen faces and wondering if they should permit themselves to drink a beer. Haq was ambling around outside waiting for the bus to arrive. He was over it.

It will be a long week leading up to the next game. I believe Scotland can beat Bangladesh but I don’t believe that on the day they will. I had more confidence in them beating England, and I was never convinced they would beat Afghanistan, a team with a unique sense of brotherhood and bloody-minded self-belief. As much as my confidence in Scotland’s spirit was restored last night, the extraordinary outcome also underlined that they still lack the ruthlessness to press their foot on an opponent’s throat when standing over them.

Halfway through their campaign, some of Scotland’s players should be very proud of how they have performed. Richie Berrington has proved the immense value of his all-round contribution. Josh Davey has taken nine wickets, which is one less than John Blain managed in 1999. With ball and bat Ali Evans has made a mockery of his omission from the opening game. Matt Machan and Kyle Coetzer are manoeuvring the ball ever so sweetly. The fielding has been world class.
Grant Bradburn will have to review his misfiring top three, however. Can he afford the luxury of an opener who is not making the right choices, and who does not contribute with the ball? We know that Calum MacLeod is made of the right stuff but Michael Leask or Matthew Cross might play more freely. Bangladesh could represent Scotland’s last chance of winning a World Cup match for a decade or more.

If you think we are hard on Scotland’s national cricket team, the ICC are about to get harder. The noise of petition is in the air but the governing body will argue that concessions have already been made. If you remember, it originally decided not to invite its associate membership to the 2019 World Cup at all.

However compelling the romantic case, David is not taken into account when Goliath’s accountants meet around tables in Mumbai and Dubai to talk about TV.

Scotland overcame a huge crisis of self-belief to get to New Zealand. They are not, quite yet, a good enough side to be planted into combat with the elite and told to win matches or forget about having a future. They are only human and today it only feels human to forgive.