Burger stalls UAE fightback

UAE 79 and 200 for 5 (Ali 50, Burger 4-30) trail Namibia 320 (Williams 116, S Burger 73, Ali 3-46) by 41 runs
Scorecard

Namibia are on course to claim he Intercontinental Shield despite a batting collapse on the second day against UAE. Namibia lost 7 for 54 and UAE responded with an opening stand of 98, but then Sarel Burger took four wickets to leave them on 200 for 5 and still 41 runs behind.

Burger's day hadn't started so well when he fell without adding to his overnight 73 and that began a swift Namibia demise towards 320 all out. That still meant a handsome lead of 241 although Naeemuddin Aslam (48) and Arshad Ali (50) chipped away steadily to suggest UAE were capable of making a decent contest.

However, once Burger broke through the match returned to a more familiar footing. Both openers were caught behind either side of Khurram Khan being trapped leg before. Louis Klazinga chipped in with the wicket of Shaiman Anwar then Burger took his fourth to leave UAE on 131 for 5 and facing a two-day defeat.

That prospect was avoided through a stubborn sixth-wicket stand of 69 between Saqib Ali and Swapnil Patil which took UAE to the close with the hope of making Namibia bat again to secure the title. Regardless of how well UAE did during the first session the damage had been done on the opening day when they subsided to 79 all out.

However, the day began in dramatic fashion when UAE showed it wasn't just Ashes Test matches that could include two wickets in an opening over. Sarel Burger (73) fell to Shoaib Sarwar who then had Louis Burger caught behind first ball. Tobias Verwey also fell without scoring as did Nicholas Scholtz, but Louis Westhuizen hit a useful 34 to extend the lead beyond 200.