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ICC Intercontinental Cup semi-finals concluded - Scotland to play Canada in final

Scotland will play Canada in the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2004 at Sharjah from 21-23 November after both sides today secured winning draws in their semi-final matches against Kenya and UAE respectively.

Jon Long

Scotland will play Canada in the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2004 at Sharjah from 21-23 November after both sides today secured winning draws in their semi-final matches against Kenya and UAE respectively.

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Kenya v Scotland
Paul Hoffmann - Man of the Match © ICC
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Kenya 95 and 163 for 4 (Bhudia 79) drew with Scotland 300 for 5 dec and 401 for 7 dec (Coetzer 133*, Smith 93, Wright 58)- Scotland progresses to the final on points

With no realistic chance of winning, Kenya batted out to a draw after being set an impossible 607 to win by Scotland on the last day of their semi-final in the ICC Intercontinental Cup at Abu Dhabi.

Amit Bhudia took up over three hours for his 79 to help avoid defeat after John Blain, who has played for Northants, dismissed Malhar Patel from the second ball of the Kenyan innings. Near the end of the day and with no prospect of any result, Kalpesh Patel enlivened proceedings when he decided to hit out and entertain the crowd with a cameo 23, made off 20 balls.

Kenya had begun the day well, dismissing Colin Smith who had added only six to his overnight 87, but that was their only success in a difficult morning. Kyle Coetzer continued where he left off yesterday, and reached his hundred off 200 balls with 13 fours and a six. He put on 122 for the seventh wicket with Craig Wright, Scotland's captain, who made a half-century, and declared after his side had reached 400, with the lead gigantic.

Canada v UAE
Zubin Surkari - Man of the Match © ICC
UAE 254 for 8 dec and 194 for 9 (Kashif Khan 56, Bhatti 5-43) drew with Canada 337 for 6 dec and 253 for 8 dec (Dhaniram 53, Zahid Shah 4-53) - Canada progresses to the final on points

Umar Bhatti blew United Arab Emirates away with 5 for 43 in the final session to reduce them to 194 for 9 after they had been set a very tempting 337 in five hours on the last day of the ICC Intercontinental Cup semi-final at Sharjah.

UAE failed to mount a realistic challenge after Syed Maqsood, who scored a hundred yesterday, was caught behind off Bhatti's left-arm medium-pace. They needed over 200 in the final session to win, or, if the match was drawn, to total at least more than 250 with fewer than three wickets down and 25 more for every further wicket lost.

Although 200 in a session is a challenging task on any third-day pitch, that's exactly what happened in the morning and was what gave UAE hope. Kashif Khan, one of their openers, was out shortly after lunch for 56, and he had carried the quick-scoring torch from two of his opponents. While Ian Billcliff held up one end for Canada with a tidy 63, first Sunil Dhaniram then Austin Codrington went after the UAE bowling. The declaration came with two wickets remaining, which deprived UAE of a bowling bonus point that helped make the subsequent run-chase more difficult.

Saturday is a rest day before the ICC Intercontinental Cup final takes place at Sharjah from Sunday.

Daily updates and full scorecards are available on the official tournament website www.icc-intercontinentalcup.com