The frustration that has been a byword for Scotland’s Intercontinental Cup campaign intensified yesterday as the United Arab Emirates claimed the upper hand on the first day of an encounter the home team must win to have any chance of reviving its tournament challenge.

Rain has blighted their efforts throughout this competition which sees seven four-day matches spread in unwieldy fashion over three seasons as world cricket’s second tier nations vie for a taste of Test cricket and an overnight downpour had soaked Ayr’s New Cambusdoon sufficiently to delay play for four hours. However even more potentially demoralising was the way they failed to capitalise on the promising position they held after a three wickets in four balls reduced the visitors to 33-3.

That burst of wickets had looked to have rewarded what would normally have seemed a bold decision by Scotland captain Preston Mommsen to insert the opposition, but was little more than common sense with time already lost, the threat of considerably more rain to come later in the week and 20 wickets required to have any chance of claiming victory.

Mommsen had also shown a willingness to force the issue, opening the bowling with pacey debutant Chris Sole and Ali Evans, but quickly replacing the more experienced man with Josh Davey when his second over went for 15 runs.

On a ground where he claimed a Scottish best in One Day Internationals when taking five wickets for nine runs against Afghanistan six years ago, Davey duly made the breakthrough with two wickets in four balls, having Muhammed Qasim and Saqlain Haider both caught in slips and when Evans was reintroduced to the attack he followed suit with the first ball of the next over.

When Evans also removed Muhammad Usman, again caught at slip, with the score at 66, the prospect of Scotland getting their first innings underway on the opening day looked realistic, but a fine 123 run partnership between Shaiman Anwar and Rameez Shahzad swung the match the way of the UAE, who are currently bottom of the eight team table.

Anwar eventually holed out for 78, but his was the last wicket to fall, Shahzad finishing the day on 66 not out with his side 198-5 and looking set to set a total that would make it very difficult for the Scots to claim the six points available for a first innings lead let alone the full 20 they require by achieving both that and a match win.