Phil Simmons was very pleased that the game was still progressing very much in Ireland's favour at the close of play. "I thought UAE bowled fairly well in the first session, and they put the ball in good areas. However as the day went on, we knew we would get well on top especially if we had wickets in hand."

What did Simmons make of the Irish 7th wicket record partnership between Trent Johnston and Niall O'Brien? "It was a truly exceptional partnership - not just the amount of runs (163), but the way the runs came, full of good attacking shots, and that has put us very much in the drivers seat. It's there for us to win now. We just have to make sure we continue batting to get enough runs before we declare or are dismissed."

"Trent plays positive cricket, and that helped Niall along too. The scoreboard kept ticking along, and that helped take any pressure from Niall, and put them under the microscope. We really pile don the runs in the last hour. It was sad to see Trent get out in the final over, because he deserved a hundred. I thought he was fantastic."

"I'd like the guys to try and stay with Niall (O'Brien) as long as possible and get as many runs on the board as we can."