Saqib Ali lifts UAE with marathon hundred

UAE 79 and 403 for 8 (Ali 139*, Patel 94, S Burger 5-80) lead Namibia 320 by 162 runs
Scorecard

Saqib Ali batted throughout the third day against Namibia and finished unbeaten on 139 to give UAE a chance to snatching an unlikely victory in the Intercontinental Shield final. His marathon innings lifted the side to 403 for 8, a lead of 162, and he added 172 with Swapnil Patel who made 94.

Namibia will back their batsmen to reach a target of around 200 but it was a day of hard work for the bowlers who only had three wickets to show for their efforts. One of those went to Sarel Burger who completed a five-wicket haul as he sent down 47 overs with Craig Williams bowling 41.

UAE resumed on 200 for 5 and their first aim was just to make Namibia bat again. Ali and Patel comfortably achieved that target then slow set about building an advantage. The partnership lasted 68 before Burger trapped Patel lbw but the resistance continued.

Amjad Javed (24) supported Ali for nearly 90 minutes until being caught behind as Williams claimed his first and Mohammad Tauqir followed for 8. But there was no shifting Ali who carried his team through to the close having struck 15 boundaries from 403 balls.