Ireland take charge after Morgan record

UAE 222 for 9 (Ali 75) trail Ireland 531 for 5 dec (Morgan 209*, Botha 157, Bray 82) by 309 runs
Scorecard

Ireland took command of their Intercontinental Cup match against UAE on another day of records in Abu Dhabi. Eoin Morgan moved to his country's highest ever score before an impressive bowling display left UAE struggle on 222 for 9 at the close.

Overnight the talk had been of Ireland pressing on for 600, but they decided not to go that far, presumably aware that they needed as much time as possible to take 20 wickets. However, Morgan progressed to his maiden double-century and went past the previous Irish record for an individual innings of 198 held by Ivan Anderson. The partnership between Morgan, and Andre Botha was worth eventually 360, both an Irish and Intercontinental Cup record.

Faced with a huge total, UAE made a promising start with the opening pair adding 75 in decent time. However, once the first breakthrough came - Boyd Rankin removing Shadeep Silva thanks to a sharp catch in the gully by Andrew White - wickets went regularly. The same fielder was in action again to remove Gayan Silva, handing Kyle McCallan his first wicket.

Arshad Ali had moved on to 74 before being brilliantly run out by McCallan following a mix up, which really opened the floodgates for Ireland. Botha and Trent Johnston claimed a couple each and at the close UAE were lurching towards the follow on, still 309 runs adrift.