Netherlands on top after bowling out UAE for 164

Dubai - Netherlands lies second on the points table, while UAE is at the bottom of the eight-team league.

The Netherlands were in a strong position at 158-3 in reply to the UAE's 164 at the end of the first day's play in the ICC Intercontinental Cup at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Having chosen to bat first in its Intercontinental Cup game against Netherlands, UAE were bowled out for 164 in 54.1 overs. In reply, Netherlands reached 158 for 3 at stumps, trailing by just six runs, after useful contributions from Stephan Myburgh (62) and Michael Rippon (41).
The day started on a bad note for the UAE with Vivian Kingma, the right-arm medium pacer, striking twice in the first 11 overs. He bowled Mohammad Shahzad and then had Muhammad Kaleem caught at first slip by Peter Borren, the captain.
Not long after that, Borren held another catch at first slip to send Shaiman Anwar back off the bowling of Roelof van der Merwe. With the top three batsmen gone, UAE relied on Swapnil Patil and Mohammad Usman, one of six debutants fielded by the home team, to resurrect the innings through a 43-run stand. But once Usman (31) became van der Merwe's second wicket, wickets kept falling at regular intervals.
Usman Mushtaq was trapped in front to give Kingma his third wicket of the innings, Borren took his third catch in the slip cordon to send Saqlain Haider back and Patil became the first of Michael Rippon's four victims when he was stumped for 41 in the 44th over. The innings lasted just 8.3 overs after that as Rippon, the chinaman bowler, finished with career-best figures of 4 for 45. Ahmed Raza trapped Rahil Ahmed and Rippon, the Netherlands openers, in front in his first spell as the visiting team was reduced to 54 for 2. That was UAE's last success for the next 21.3 overs as Stephan Myburgh and van der Merwe put on 74 runs for the third wicket.
Farhan Ahmed bowled Myburgh for a stroke-filled 62 off 94 deliveries with nine fours, but van der Merwe (47 not out) and Borren (14 not out) ensured that there was no more damage to the innings till stumps. Netherlands lies second on the points table, while UAE is at the bottom of the eight-team league, having lost both its matches so far.