Ireland coach Phil Simmons was clearly a relieved man after seeing his side take longer than expected to collect the 20 points on offer against the UAE, "The main thing was to win the game which we achieved. It was a good test for us ahead of our important series in Bangladesh. It's good for the bowlers to get overs under their belts out in the middle and we'll benefit from this tough test by the UAE."

On Ireland's 20 year old leg spinner Greg Thompson who got the vital breakthroughs, "Leg spinners are always good to have in a four day team. They may bowl the odd bad delivery along the way, but they also bowl the unexpected, unplayable, wicket taking ball, and that's good to have in the armoury. I thought his bowling in the last 5 or 6 overs was exceptional. It's good to see him coming along."

He had a special word of praise for opposition captain Saqib Ali after his marathon innings of 195, "I thought it was a quite exceptional effort on his part. From when he came in and the amount of bowling he had to face as he protected the tail was an incredible effort on his part. He fully deserved a double hundred, but I don't like 200's being scored against us."

Was Simmons concerned that the game could be slipping away at any stage? "I always felt that there was going to be time. There was always going to be 15 overs at the end of the day as well, and on this type of wicket, I'd have backed us to get 100-120. One wicket brought two, and I was always confident of the win."