Ireland will have to wait another day before wrapping up victory in their Intercontinental Cup with UAE, after a fighting unbeaten 98 from skipper Saqib Ali saw them score 186/7 at the close of play - still requiring another 60 runs to force the Irish to bat for a second time.

There was controversy when Ireland tried to claim the extra half hour's play in an attempt to finish  the game, but were told by the umpires that both captains needed to be in agreement. They later admitted the error of their ways, but hopefully it shouldn't have any significant bearing on the outcome of the game.

With UAE having only 10 fit batsmen, as Fernandes was absent injured, Ireland were just two balls away from having a day of rest on Sunday.

Ali dealt primarily in boundaries, hitting 14 fours and 2 sixes in his 137 ball stay, and drove and pulled the ball with great power and timing. He ploughed a lonely furrow though, as indisciplined shot selection helped Ireland work their way patiently through their line up, on what is still essentially a very good track to score runs on.

Kyle McCallan (3-65), and Alex Cusack (2-10) both bowled exceptionally well, and Trent Johnston and Andre Botha both picked up a wicket in truncated spells.

Earlier in the day a stand of 77 between Niall O' Brien (174) and Kyle McCallan (52*) took the Ireland lead past 200. O' Brien looked on course to pass the highest individual score for Ireland, but was caught by wicket-keeper Ali while attempting a reverse sweep.

McCallan's 50 came form 106 balls and contained 6 fours - he never looked back after striking his first ball for 4, and timed the ball very well.

Ireland have injury worries with Johnston, Botha and Langford-Smith all reporting problems, but with plenty of options, Ireland should have the 20 points in the bag by lunchtime tomorrow.

Day 3 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 Day 1: Ireland 46-1 (16 overs, Porterfield 16*, Morgan 21*) Day 2: Ireland 366-7, (100.2 overs, N O'Brien 133*) Day 3: UAE 186-7 (60 overs, Saqib Ali 98*, Zahid Shah 14*)

 

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	175	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	49	26	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 474/10 All Out (Overs 134.3)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Min	Bls	4s	6s
WTS Porterfield	lbw	b Zahid Shah	25	109	62	1	1
PR Stirling		b Fahad Alhashmi	2	18	18	0	0
EJG Morgan	lbw	b Ahmed Raza	47	164	95	6	0
NJ O'Brien+	c Amjad Ali	b Sameer Zia	174	487	293	23	0
KJ O'Brien	c Amjad Ali	b Ahmed Raza	33	66	58	4	0
AC Botha	lbw	b Saqib Ali	19	42	32	2	0
AR Cusack	lbw	b Zahid Shah	4	19	17	0	0
DT Johnston*	c Amjad Ali	b Saqib Ali	69	181	95	10	0
WK McCallan	not out		52	143	107	6	0
GJ Thompson		b Sameer Zia	1	7	6	0	0
D Langford-Smith		c&b; Saqib Ali	15	38	37	2	0
extras		(b3 lb11 w2 nb17)	33
TOTAL		10 wickets for	474

 

FOW

1-8(PR Stirling) 2-67(WTS Porterfield) 3-102(EJG Morgan) 4-166(KJ O'Brien)

5-197(AC Botha) 6-203(AR Cusack) 7-366(DT Johnston) 8-443(NJ O'Brien)

9-447(GJ Thompson) 10-474(D Langford-Smith)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
Zahid Shah	27	3	126	2	-	12
Fahad Alhashmi	13	3	40	1	2	-
Shoaib Sarwar	14	2	59	0	-	1
Sameer Zia	24	2	87	2	-	-
Saqib Ali	26.3	3	84	3	-	-
Ahmed Raza	30	5	64	2	-	-

 

UAE 2nd Innings 186/7 (Overs 60)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Min	Bls	4s	6s
HS Gayan S Silva	c KJ O'Brien	b WK McCallan	16	101	68	3	0
Amjad Ali+	c AR Cusack	b WK McCallan	23	49	45	2	0
Naeemuddin Aslam	lbw	b DT Johnston	0	12	9	0	0
Saqib Ali*	not out		98	0	137	14	2
Rashid Khan	lbw	b AR Cusack	17	43	36	1	1
Sameer Zia		b AR Cusack	0	2	3	0	0
Ahmed Raza	c WK McCallan	b AC Botha	1	19	13	0	0
Shoaib Sarwar		b WK McCallan	9	21	12	2	0
Zahid Shah	not out		14	0	39	2	1
N Fernandes	dnb		-
Fahad Alhashmi	dnb		-
extras		(b4 lb0 w2 nb2)	8
TOTAL		7 wickets for	186

 

FOW

1-37(Amjad Ali) 2-38(Naeemuddin Aslam) 3-64(HS Gayan S Silva) 4-108(Rashid Khan)

5-108(Sameer Zia) 6-113(Ahmed Raza) 7-127(Shoaib Sarwar)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
D Langford-Smith	5	0	24	0	-	1
KJ O'Brien	9	3	25	0	-	1
WK McCallan	18	6	65	3	1	-
DT Johnston	3	1	5	1	1	-
GJ Thompson	11	3	36	0	-	-
AR Cusack	7	3	10	2	-	-
AC Botha	5	3	5	1	-	-
PR Stirling	2	0	12	0	-	-