Ireland have finished the first day of their Intercontinental Cup match with UAE in Abu Dhabi very much in the ascendancy. They closed on 46 for 1 after disimissing the UAE for 228 on what looks like a very good batting strip.

Having lost another toss and been asked to field, Ireland were boosted by an early wicket for Dave Langford-Smith who removed the highly rated Silva with the 4th ball of the game.

That set the tone as Ireland refused to let a weakened UAE team settle. Wickets fell at regular intervals, including that of the obdurate Naemmuddin (49), and at 121 for 6 it looked like a well below par total of 170 was on the cards.

However the Irish charge was held up by a stubborn 7th wicket partnership of 97 between Sameer Zia (56) and Ahmad Raza (46). That was eventually broken by Alex Cusack who bowled Zia - that saw a late flurry of wickets as the final four added just 10 runs.

There were two wickets for Johnston (2-40), Cusack (2-13) and Langford-Smith (2-26). The bowlers were backed up by a very impressive display in the field. Catches by Kevin O'Brien and William Porterfield can both be rated in the exceptional category. However the champagne moment of the day was the run out by 17 year old Paul Stirling of Zahid Shah with a direct hit from backward short leg.

His wide smile was soon replaced by a frown as he made just two, before being bowled by a good delivery from AlHamshi with the score on 8.

He should have been joined back in the pavilion by William Porterfield on the same score, but wicket-keeper Amjad Ali spilled a regulation catch diving to his left.

Eoin Morgan (21*) and Porterfield (16*) then played with circumspection to take Ireland to 46 for 1 when play closed, leaving them 182 runs in arrears with 9 wickets standing.

Day 1 Scorecard

UAE Vs Ireland

2-Innings Match Played At Sheikh Zayed Abu Dhabi, 06-Mar-2008, First Class InterconCup

Round	653
Toss won by	UAE
Umpires	Shahul Hameed (Indonesia) & Zameer Haider (Pakistan)
Comment	653/6 4 day Match: Thursday 6, Friday 7, Saturday 8, Sunday 9 March 2008 Debut: PR Stirling Close Day 1: Ireland 46-1 (16 overs, Porterfield 16*, Morgan 21*)

 

UAE 1st Innings 228/10 All Out (Overs 72)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Min	Bls	4s	6s
HS Gayan S Silva	lbw	b D Langford-Smith	4	2	4	1	0
Amjad Ali+	c NJ O'Brien	b DT Johnston	12	40	30	3	0
Naeemuddin Aslam	lbw	b GJ Thompson	49	160	124	7	0
Rashid Khan	c KJ O'Brien	b D Langford-Smith	23	62	51	2	0
Saqib Ali*	c PR Stirling	b DT Johnston	7	34	22	1	0
N Fernandes	c KJ O'Brien	b WK McCallan	14	44	30	30	2
Sameer Zia		b AR Cusack	56	108	80	7	0
Ahmed Raza	c WTS Porterfield	b AC Botha	46	109	83	7	0
Shoaib Sarwar		b AR Cusack	0	9	7	0	0
Zahid Shah	run out PR Stirling		0	3	1	0	0
Fahad Alhashmi	not out		0	6	1	0	0
extras		(b5 lb4 w4 nb4)	17
TOTAL		10 wickets for	228

 

FOW

1-4(HS Gayan S Silva) 2-29(Amjad Ali) 3-70(Rashid Khan) 4-97(Saqib Ali)

5-111(Naeemuddin Aslam) 6-121(N Fernandes) 7-218(Sameer Zia) 8-218(Shoaib Sarwar)

9-218(Zahid Shah) 10-228(Ahmed Raza)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
D Langford-Smith	9	3	26	2	2	2
DT Johnston	15	4	40	2	1	-
KJ O'Brien	8	1	29	0	1	1
AR Cusack	7	4	13	2	-	-
GJ Thompson	13	2	62	1	-	-
AC Botha	12	5	32	1	-	1
WK McCallan	8	2	17	1	-	-

 

Ireland 1st Innings 46/1 (Overs 16)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Min	Bls	4s	6s
WTS Porterfield	not out		16	85	47	1	0
PR Stirling		b Fahad Alhashmi	2	18	18	0	0
EJG Morgan	not out		21	64	36	3	0
NJ O'Brien+	dnb		-
AC Botha	dnb		-
KJ O'Brien	dnb		-
AR Cusack	dnb		-
DT Johnston*	dnb		-
WK McCallan	dnb		-
GJ Thompson	dnb		-
D Langford-Smith	dnb		-
extras		(b0 lb0 w2 nb5)	7
TOTAL		1 wickets for	46

 

FOW

1-8(PR Stirling)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
Zahid Shah	7	1	15	0	-	5
Fahad Alhashmi	4	0	13	1	2	-
Shoaib Sarwar	3	0	9	0	-	-
Sameer Zia	1	0	9	0	-	-
Saqib Ali	1	1	0	0	-	-