UAE still hope to tip 'finely poised' game in their favour

Scotland are not dropping guard though Berrington ton puts visitors in command.

Richie Berrington's hundred put the game away from the UAE.

Arshad Ali, the UAE all-rounder, believes that the national team can still force a positive result against Scotland, despite their hefty first innings deficit.

The UAE trail their visitors by 131 with eight second-innings wickets remaining in their ICC Intercontinental Cup meeting at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Arshad, who is one of the not-out batsmen and will start this morning on 12, took two wickets as the home side eventually dismissed Scotland for 305.

The national team are in arrears because of their poor first-innings display, when they were bowled out for 100 on a pitch Arshad deemed "fine" for batting.

"In the long version of the game, if you have a poor first-innings, it is really hard to come back and win the game," the leg-spinner and opening batsman said.

"But we still have our best batsmen to come - Khurram Khan, Saqib Ali - then lots of all-rounders, so we have a chance.

"If we do well with the bat, why not? We can put [Scotland] under pressure again."

The national team's struggles in this match so far have come in stark contrast to their strong recent form.

Before the match, they were lying in second place in the eight-team Intercontinental Cup table, after two matches.

They had enjoyed a shock success in Kenya in their opening match, then got the better of the defending champions, Afghanistan, in their next fixture.

Their confidence had been buoyed further by twin victories over Afghanistan, who are regarded as one of the leading forces outside of the Test elite, in the new 50-over World Cup qualifying league.

Scotland, meanwhile, are in a state of transition, having overhauled an ageing squad to the extent the average age is now just 24, down from 31 not so long ago.

A 99-run alliance between one of the younger recruits, Richie Berrington, 24, and Simon Smith, the 32-year-old wicketkeeper, helped cement the away side's position of power yesterday.

Berrington's strike-rate of 45.45 for his innings of 110 provides an indicator that the playing surface is a typical Sharjah wicket that rewards patience.

The UAE are basing their reasons for optimism on the fact they have the two leading run-scorers in this season's Intercontinental Cup - Khurram and Saqib - still available to bat.

Despite starting today in good health, the tourists acknowledge the game is still far from won.

"We know there are a lot of dangerous cricketers in the UAE team and that they have done well in the past two four-day games," said Peter Steindl, Scotland's Australian coach.

"It is their home conditions and we knew this was going to be a big challenge, and it still is.

"We talked this afternoon about the fact the game is still finely poised. We have to go out [today] and have a really good first session.

"The way the UAE boys bat, they go at the bowling hard, so they can get runs quite quickly."

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