Malaysia take the honours on the opening day

Malaysia 125 for 3 (Selvaratnam 53) trail UAE 231 for 9 dec (Khurram Khan 66) by 106 runs
Scorecard

Malaysia ended the opening day of their Intercontinental Cup tie against the United Arab Emirates at the Selangor Turf Club in a commanding position. The UAE need maximum points from this match if they are to progress to the semi-final against Canada - anything less, and Nepal will qualify instead.

Malaysia won the toss and put UAE in, and Suresh Navaratnam, Malaysia's captain, struck the first blow in the seventh over when he had the opener Ramveera Rai caught for 2 by Krishnamurthi Muniandy in the gully (13 for 1).

Navaratnam then claimed his second victim when he bowled Kaif Ghaury for 6, before Arshad Ali (42) and Rashif Hussain Khan (22) put on 66 for the third wicket. At lunch, the UAE were 126 for 4.

The former UAE skipper Khuram Khan batted superbly in making 66 runs off 70 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes, before being dismissed off the last ball of the 47th over. He shared a 93-run fifth-wicket stand with Syed Maqsood Ahmed (41). The UAE declared at 231 for 9 after 57 overs. Mohammad Shukri was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 32 off six overs, while Navaratnam, Manrick Singh and Sarath Jayawardhana grabbed two wickets each.

Malaysia's reply started confidently as Rohan Selvaratnam (53) and Rakesh Madhavan (48) posted 108 for the first wicket. Selvaratnam's fifty came off 106 balls, but his was the first wicket to fall when he was superbly caught at deep midwicket by Khuram off Mohammad Tauqir in the 33rd over.

Tauqir took two more late wickets to restrict Malaysia to 125 for 3 by the close.