World Cup 2015: Scotland out to cause an upset - Grant Bradburn

Scotland played at the World Cups in 1999 and 2007 but have yet to win a match

Scotland coach Grant Bradburn says his side will focus on delivering surprise results at the World Cup.

The Scots start their opening match against co-hosts New Zealand in Dunedin at 22:00 GMT on Monday.

"There's 14 teams in this competition and we're clearly ranked number 14," former Kiwi international Bradburn told BBC Scotland.

"But we go to this World Cup intending to win some games and beat some top-tier nations."

Scotland showed encouraging signs as they beat Ireland and lost narrowly to West Indies in their final two warm-up matches.

But Bradburn is realistic and knows few will expect them to be one of the four teams that progress from Pool A, in which they are joined by New Zealand, England, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia.

"We're fully expecting that we will be seen as the easy-beats and possibly the easy targets for a barrage of bumpers and perhaps some sledging," he said.

"But our guys are experienced, skilled and mature enough to deal with that.

"We've identified that we'll be seriously challenged with quality spin and swinging pace. We've worked hard on advancing those skills.

"We also want to be more accurate and consistent with our bowling and we've put a lot of hard work into that.

"So, skill-wise the boys have advanced and we've really built this team with a huge amount of spirit and character."

Bradburn says he is "well aware of the history" between Scotland and England and looks forward to trying to "topple over" the side captained by Eoin Morgan in their second pool match.

However, Scotland's opener against New Zealand, who beat Sri Lanka in their first game on Saturday, holds special significance for him.

Although New Zealand have won both the official ODIs between the teams, the 48-year-old has already taken heart from a solid display against a strong New Zealand XI back in October, when Scotland lost by just one run.

"We took away a lot of genuine confidence from that performance, which we should've won," said Bradburn, who played in seven Tests for the Black Caps.

"I believe we lost that game rather than New Zealand winning it - we had it in the bag but didn't quite have the confidence or know-how to take the game when it presented itself.

"That's something we've spoken about. They will be under pressure, probably more than us.

"We couldn't wish for any better draw - to play in Dunedin twice, which is the 'Scotland of the South'. We're expecting lots of Scottish support and such an exciting privilege for our guys to experience."

Asked what he is looking forward to most over the next month or more in Australia and New Zealand, Bradburn had no hesitation with his response.

"The anthem after a win," he added. "There's nothing like it.

"We've never won a game at a World Cup; yet.

"I'd love nothing more and that would be a special occasion to be singing the anthem in the dressing room."