Cricket: Scotland dig in against Afghanistan

Scotland's cricketers continued to fight back on the second day of the intercontinental cup final against Afghanistan in Dubai.

By lunch three more Afghan wickets had been taken to stand at 132-4 - despite a rib injury which prevented Scottish captain Gordon Drummond taking the field.

In the absence of Drummond it was Kyle Coetzer who took charge with a decision taken to open the bowling with Richie Berrington and Matthew Parker.

However, it was Majid Haq who got the breakthrough when he had Mirwais Ashraf caught behind by Simon Smith, one of the heroes of the Scottish innings alongside centurion Neil McCallum, with the total at 54. The third wicket to go down then fell to Greenock ace Berrington when he had opener Karim Sadiq lbw for 35 with the total on 76.

The match became even more balanced when Berrington removed Mohammad Shazad for ten at 89 only for the Scots to lose their grip by conceding quick runs in the closing overs of the opening session.