United Arab Emirates made a strong start to its ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Afghanistan on the opening day of the four-day contest at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.After opting to bat first, UAE posted 361 for eight in 96 overs. The key scorers for the UAE first were opener Bakthiyar Palekar (76: 60b, 12x4, 2x4) and Swapnil Patil (61: 141b, 7x4).Patil and skipper Khurram Khan (52: 114b, 5x4) then added 98 runs for the fourth wicket. Amjad Ali (49) added a further 44 runs for the fifth wicket with Patil.Later, Vikrant Shetty (57: 77b, 10x4) played a cameo to help UAE end the day in a strong position.Dawlat Zadran (4-74) and Samiullah Shenwari (2-79) were the key wicket-takers for Afghanistan.
