Hobart: Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc stood out with excellent figures of 4/14 as Australia registered an easy seven-wicket win over Scotland to finish second in Pool A going into the quarterfinals of the cricket World Cup here today.

After skipper Michael Clarke opted to bowl in their last round robin league match, Australia packed off Scotland for 130 in 25.4 overs and then chased down the target with 208 balls to spare at the Bellerive Oval.

Clarke, opening the innings in place of David Warner who was pushed down the order, made 47 in as many balls with the help of seven boundaries and two sixes and put on 58 runs for the second wicket with Shane Watson (24) to help the four-time winners inch closer to victory.

With a last eight berth already assured before today's match, the Australian captain wanted himself and Watson to spend some time in the middle before the quarterfinals kick off.

Aaron Finch raced his way to 20 off 10 balls with the help of three boundaries and a six, but he could not carry on as he was dismissed by Rob Taylor. Watson found the fence four times.

After Clarke fell three short of a half-century, James Faulkner (16) and Warner (21) guided the team home with ease following another rain interruption. Taylor, Iain Wardlaw and Josh Davey were the wicket-takers for Scotland.

Australia finished second in the group behind co-hosts New Zealand and followed by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They play against the third place team in Pool B.

Earlier, Starc and Pat Cummins shared seven wickets between themselves to help skittle out a hapless Scotland for a paltry total.

Nelson (New Zealand): Bangladesh beat Scotland by six wickets on Thursday in the Cricket World Cup Pool A match at Saxton Oval

Kyle Coetzer stroked Scotland's first World Cup century to fire his team to an impressive 318 for eight against Bangladesh.

The 30-year-old's 156 at Saxton Oval was also the highest score by a batsman from an associate nation at the global showpiece and ensured his team would post their highest score against a test nation.

After several balls on 97 where he was unable to lay bat on ball, he brought up the milestone in style by slamming Rubel Hossain over long on for his second six. He also hit 12 boundaries in the first 100 runs.

Scotland were reduced to 38 for two in the 10th over after being asked to bat by Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, but Coetzer shared in a 141-run partnership with captain Preston Mommsen (39) and 78 runs with Matt Machan (35) to anchor the innings.

Scotland enjoyed their third 300-plus score in one-day internationals, having also achieved the mark against Ireland in 2011 and Canada in 2014.

After Coezter was dismissed in the 45th over with Scotland 269 for five, Richie Berrington (26) and Matt Cross (20) combined for a quickfire 39 runs that saw their side past 300.

While Saxton Oval is a high-scoring ground, the total could be tough for Bangladesh who suffered an injury blow when batsman Anamul Haque dived to prevent a boundary in the 31st over and appeared to dislocate his right shoulder.

He was immediately treated by medical staff but did not re-appear on the field during the remainder of Scotland's innings.

Oval: The Afghanistan cricket team brought tremendous joy to its far-flung fans when it beat Scotland by one wicket in the last over to claim its first win at the Cricket World Cup.

Samuillah Shenwari scored 96 to bat Afghanistan to the threshold of victory Thursday as it chased Scotland's 210 - its highest-ever score in a World Cup match - but was out with 19 runs needed, 19 balls remaining and one wicket standing. The last-wicket pair of Hamid Hassan (15 not out) and Shapoor Zadran (12 not out) combined in a nerveless partnership which completed the famous win with three balls to spare.

Shapoor struck the third ball of Iain Wardlaw's final over for a boundary to end the most passionately-contested match to date at the 2015 World Cup.

"Thanks to Allah," Shenwari said. "I was thankful to ... get the win for Afghanistan.

"We lost five wickets early and I had the responsibility to stay there till the end. It was a poor shot to get out, but I was trying to get a six. Good win for us in the tournament and we are looking forward to win more."

Afghanistan has been the most impassioned team at the tournament, celebrating every wicket with unrestrained displays of jubilation, including cartwheels and quiet prayers. So far are they from the norm of professional cricket, where players tend to be measured and media-trained, that they have brought a new dimension to the tournament.

Afghanistan is competing at its first World Cup in the 50-over format and none of the 14 teams contesting the quadrennial event has had a tougher road to the tournament. War has affected Afghanistan's security and infrastructure.

Yet this squad of 15 players, many of whom have spent time as refugees outside their homeland, have achieved the tremendous feat first of qualifying for this tournament, then of traveling to the other side of the world to participate in it, and finally to achieve a win in only their third match at the most elite level.

Afghanistan bowled well to dismiss Scotland for 210 from the final ball of the 50th over.

Shapoor Zadran (4-38) and Dhawat Zadran (3-29) reduced Scotland to 144-8 on a seaming pitch before a 62-run ninth wicket stand between Majid Haq (31) and Alasdair Evans lifted the Scots past 200 for the first time at a World Cup.

Afghanistan then made a vibrant beginning to its innings, rushing to 42-0 after seven overs. But its innings went into a spiral, with Afghanistan slumping to 97-7 before Shenwari began to stabilize the run chase.

Scotland then seemed to have the upper hand and, in a match between teams that had never won a World Cup match, their claim to victory seemed equally compelling.

But Shenwari, with infinite patience, began building his and Afghanistan's innings and slowly the course of the game turned again. There were many times when Shenwari's innings, completed with intermittent support from the Afghani tail-enders, seemed too casually-paced to save his lineup.

He resolutely defended any ball that contained a threat and preserved his wicket with ferocious determination until the runs required and balls remaining began to move into closer synchronization.

He lost partners regularly. Mohammad Nabi (1), Asfar Zazai (0), Najibullah Zadran (4) and Gulbadin Naib (0) were all out as the Afghanistan innings tottered on the verge of total collapse. But Zadran made nine in a 35-run partnership which halted the slide, then Hamid Hassan helped add 60 for the ninth wicket in a partnership that turned the match.

Shenwari finally went on the offensive, striking three sixes from the bowling of Majid Haq in the 47th over. He was out next ball, caught in the deep to Josh Davey, and Haq knelt in exhausted relief and in hope that the match had tipped in Scotland's favor.

Shapoor and Hamid, then set about the task of scoring the final runs, knowing any more dismissals would result in defeat. They slowly defrayed the runs required and came to the last over needing five runs from six balls. Hamid took a single from the first ball and Shapoor struck the third - a low full toss on leg stump - for the winning boundary.

Shapoor set off on a delirious run to the corner of the ground where a small group of New Zealand-based Afghanis, who had raucously supported their team throughout the match, were waiting to greet him.

New Zealand almost wasted a superb bowling effort to bumble their way to a three-wicket victory over Scotland in their cricket World Cup Pool A match in Dunedin on Tuesday.

The co-hosts finished on 146 for seven, although they made it harder for themselves than they should have after bowling Scotland out for 142.

Scotland’s opening bowler Iain Wardlaw took three for 57 in 9.5 overs to give New Zealand some nervous moments in their run chase with many of their batsmen guilty of throwing away their wickets in an effort to improve their net run rate.

Daniel Vettori (eight not out) and Adam Milne (one), however, saw them home in the 25th over at University Oval.

New Zealand had earlier destroyed Scotland’s top order with a superb display of swing bowling from Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who reduced Preston Mommsen’s side to 12 for four in the fifth over.

Matt Machan (56) and Richie Berrington (50) rescued Scotland’s innings with a 97-run fifth-wicket partnership but once they were dismissed the tail collapsed.

Corey Anderson grabbed three middle order wickets, while Vettori finished off the tail with three, the last two of which were on successive balls.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum had been cautious before the game, refusing to take Scotland for granted particularly after Ireland did wonders for the associate nations on Monday.

Ireland stunned West Indies by four wickets to give the non-test playing nations a massive confidence boost as the International Cricket Council looks to reduce the size of the 2019 World Cup to 10 teams.

McCullum had indicated that the pitch, which has produced scores in excess of 300 in its last two one-dayers, typically aided the bowlers early on but got better as the day wore on.

Southee and Boult proved him right in the early overs of the match, both carving out hat-trick opportunities but unable to achieve the feat.

The pressure they were putting on the batsmen suggested the Scots were heading for the lowest World Cup team total – 36 by Canada in 2003 – before Machan and Berrington saved their embarrassment.