Seeded second, they have lost all their practice matches, albeit narrowly, but captain George Salmond is confident that, if his batsmen can hit form, they need fear no one in their group.

The Kelab Aman wicket is said to be faster and truer than those so far experienced and Salmond is optimistic that these conditions will give his batsmen the chance to play their strokes.

Freuchie's David Cowan is out of contention with a back problem but spinner Ian Beven is likely to play despite tweaking a hamstring during the practice matches.

Alan Lewis batted through 50 overs to make 127 not out as Ireland began the competition with a comfortable 192-run win in their opening Group A match against Gibraltar at the Victoria Institute in Kuala Lumpur.

Opener Lewis hit seven boundaries, including three sixes, in a best of the day 278-2, and in doing so recorded the highest score by an Ireland player in a one-day international. Mark Patterson made sure his effort did not go to waste with a lively spell of 4-22.