NSC (day two of four) – –Bermuda, 56 & 107-1, with nine second innings wickets remaining trail UAE, 356-6 dec., by 193 runs.

Chris Foggo and Stephen Outerbridge might just have given Bermuda a chance to save this game.

The pair battled UAE's bowlers for more than two hours last night as the Island's cricketers staged a determined fightback on the second day of their Intercontinental Shield clash with UAE.

Foggo (45 not out) and Outerbridge (42 not out) put on –87 runs in 36.3 overs yesterday afternoon as the home side clawed their way back into a game that seemed to be all but over little more than an hour after lunch.

By that time, UAE had declared on 356 for six, having amassed a 300 run lead, and looked like they might well have the game wrapped up inside two days.

That belief will only have intensified when Fiqre Crockwell was out for 12, and Bermuda were 20 for one before tea.

However Foggo and Outerbridge had other ideas, and the purpose and determination that they displayed in solidifying Bermuda's second innings after the early setback was as frustrating for UAE as it was for many of the home team's supporters.

The application, the understanding, the game awareness, all the traits that Bermuda had so comprehensively failed to display on the first day were there in abundance yesterday, and it left many, including skipper David Hemp, to wonder what might have been.

"The fight and the application we showed, we didn't see that first time around, and it's frustrating," said Hemp.

"The first innings are where you set up the game. We could end up winning the next three days and not win the game."

Only for a period of about an hour either side of lunch did UAE really have the better of things yesterday.

Having lost Saqib Ali (34) to a great one-handed catch from Foggo with the score on 220 for three, Arshad Ali and wicketkeeper Swapnil Ali then made just 18 runs in the next 50 minutes.

However once Arshad Ali had passed his century, which came off 248 balls and included just four fours and a six, the pair pushed on a little and UAE reached lunch at 283 for three.

After the interval there was always the feeling that UAE would be more aggressive, and so it proved.

Arshad Ali was finally out for 126, and Patil and Amjad Ali took the aerial route more often than not as they looked to make some quick runs.

With a little bit of luck Joshua Gilbert and Rodney Trott would have taken more than the three wickets apiece that they finished with. But they, and the rest of the Bermuda bowlers performed far better than on the previous day.

In the end UAE declared at 2.24pm, 300 ahead and giving themselves a good 40 minutes to put Bermuda on the back foot before the tea interval.

Crockwell continues to struggle at the top of the order, and while he looked better during his brief stay at the crease yesterday, he is still getting himself out.

The Bermuda opener lasted for nearly 11 overs this time around, and was looking comfortable against the spin and seam attack of UAE.

He survived a shout for caught behind early on, and was on 12, when he tried to push a Qasim Zubair delivery away off the back foot and only succeeded in looping a catch to Saqib Ali at mid-on.

That brought Outerbrigde to the crease, and the rest of the afternoon belonged to Foggo and Outerbridge.

And as the day progressed the level of impatience in the UAE side increased.

Skipper Khurram Khan used seven bowlers in two-and-a-half hours trying to buy a wicket as the day drew to a close.

And while rotating the attack can sometimes be a good thing, in this case it smacked a little bit of desperation.

Both Bermuda batsmen rode their luck at times, Foggo was put down by Patil twice, and Outerbridge got away with a cut shot that should have been caught at gully.

However they probably deserved it.

The pair approached their task in the manner you might expect two batsmen who are trying to save a game would.

They took the singles when they were available, they put the poor balls away for four, and, by and large, they didn't take any silly risks.

Outerbridge had an escape of his own when Patil dropped another one, and soon after a boundary brought up the 100 for Bermuda.

They finished the day unbowed and unbeaten, having faced 249 balls between them. Their run rate was a rather pedestrian 2.38 runs per over. But none of that matters, they are both still at the crease.

Overall though, while Bermuda will feel that they had the better of the day, UAE won't be too unhappy with their efforts.

True, they probably expected to be half way to victory given the ease with which they dispatched Bermuda first time around, but a 193-run lead is still pretty healthy.

And they are still very much on top given that Bermuda would have to score somewhere in the region of another 250 runs for the loss of only three or four more wickets to pose a serious threat to UAE's hopes of winning the game.

But doubts will start to creep in the longer that Foggo and Outerbridge remain at the crease.

And there is the small chance, however miniscule, that Bermuda could yet pull out a victory of epic proportions.

Not that that is very likely. But the wicket has started to turn square, and if UAE had to chase 130 runs batting fourth, who knows what might happen.

That though is for the fans to ponder, Bermuda cannot afford to allow themselves such luxuries as what ifs.

Their task is a very simple one. They must bat all of tomorrow, and get to lunch without losing a wicket if possible.

Even then it is asking a lot of a side who have scored 56, 130 and 91 in their three previous Intercontinental Shield innings on the ground.

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