All-rounder Mohammad Shahzad (3-61) and Ahmed Raza (2-61) shared the five wickets between them to restrict the hosts to 327- 5, thanks to centuries from Kyle Coetzer (127) and captain Preston Mommsen (111 not out).

It could have been a lower target in the ODI clash had Paul Franks’ troops been more sharper on the field in Edinburgh. Opener Craig Wallace had yet to get off the mark before being dropped by Shahzad in the second over.

The Scotsman went on to score 16 runs before becoming Raza’s first victim. But it was the in-form Coetzer who made the UAE pay. On 74, the batsman was dropped by pacer Mohammed Naveed en route to his third ODI century before falling to Shahzad.

Chasing a challenging target, the UAE began brightly but had no answer to medium-fast bowler Alasdair Evans, who took four wickets as Franks’ men were all out for 229. The defeat leaves the UAE rooted to the bottom of the eight-team standings with just one win in seven outings and Raza had no complaints on the result.

“Scotland were the better team on the day and you can’t take nothing away from that,” said the 27-year-old. “It was a very challenging day and we would have liked to have restricted them to the 270-280 mark. We were in a good position at different times but then again, they were the better side.

We had a few dropped catches and it was quite hard to get back into the game. They were sharper and those things matter when you play an ODI international.”

Captain Amjad Javed, who went wicketless in his eight overs, before scoring 32 runs agreed, saying the 112-run stand between Coetzer and Mommsen made things difficult for his side.

“We had some chances that went against us and their batsmen went on to score big runs and at the end of the day that was crucial,” said the all-rounder. Javed will be looking for an improvement from his batsmen when the teams meet again tomorrow in the final game of the tour.

Yesterday, Rohan Mustafa (43) top-scored for the tourists and was involved in the team’s biggest partnership of 72 with Laxman Sreekumar (28). But the team could not build on that encouraging start with wickets falling at regular intervals with Scotland wrapping up the victory with seven overs remaining.

“When we batted, we just couldn’t build big partnerships. We were scoring 20-30 runs but no one could stand there and play a long innings. If we did that that, it could’ve made a big difference in the game for us.”