Ali and Khan save UAE blushes on opening day of ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08

18-year-old Calum MacLeod hits the deck hard on the opening day of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 © Donald MacLeod/The Scotsman

Saqib Ali and Khuram Khan hit fighting half-centuries to save United Arab Emirates' (UAE) blushes on a shortened opening day of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 match against Scotland at Ayr, Scotland on Wednesday.

By stumps, Ali was still there, unbeaten on 71 while Khan fell just before the close after a well made 74. The visitors, after being put into bat by Scotland, recovered from a precarious 18-3 to finish the day at a respectable 174-4.

Ali and Khan showed resilience, good technique and temperament to put on 153 runs for the fourth wicket in 160 minutes to pull the tourists out of a deep hole on a day when 46 overs were lost due to overnight rain. The chilly Scottish conditions - a far cry from the UAE at this time of year - made the batsmen's challenge even stiffer.

Scotland seamer Craig Wright in action on day one of the ICC Intercontinental Cup against the UAE at Ayr. © Donald MacLeod/The Scotsman

Ali will resume batting on day two having faced 123 balls in little under three hours of batting. So far his innings is laced with nine hits to the fence while Khan, who matched Ali stroke for stroke, belted 10 boundaries in his 121-ball knock.

For Scotland, the 2004 champions, former captain Craig Wright picked up two early wickets and finished the day with impressive figures of 2-19 from 16 overs. Wright's new-ball partner John Blain bagged the wicket of opener Amjad Javed while spinner Majid Haq picked up the prized scalp of Khan, trapping him in front of the wickets.

Play resumes on Thursday at 10.30 local time.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now ICC's premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members' cricket schedule.

Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.

Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada earlier this year in the 2006-07event.

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be decided.