The high-k (7 . k??i . 11) wavenumber spectrum of density fluctuations has been measured for the first time in MAST [B. Lloyd et al, Nucl. Fusion 43, 1665 (2003)]. This was accomplished with the first implementation of Doppler backscattering (DBS) for core measurements in a spherical tokamak. DBS has become a well-established and versatile diagnostic technique for the measurement of intermediate-k (k??i ~ 1, and higher) density fluctuations and flows in magnetically confined fusion experiments. Previous implementations of DBS for core measurements have been in standard, large aspect ratio tokamaks. A novel implementation with 2D steering was necessary to enable DBS measurements in MAST, where the large variation of the magnetic field pitch angle presents a challenge. We report on the scattering considerations and ray tracing calculations used to optimize the design and present data demonstrating measurement capabilities. Initial results confirm the applicability of the design and implementation approaches, showing the strong dependence of scattering alignment on toroidal launch angle and demonstrating DBS is sensitive to the local magnetic field pitch angle. We also present comparisons of DBS plasma velocity measurements with charge exchange recombination and beam emission spectroscopy measurements, which show reasonable agreement over most of the minor radius, but imply large poloidal flows approaching the magnetic axis in a discharge with an internal transport barrier.