Gavin Hamilton reached a half-century in Sharjah

Scotland took a huge step towards winning the ICC Inter-Continental Cup after hitting 180-3 in reply to Canada's 110 all out on the first day.

Durham star Gavin Hamilton hit an unbeaten 70 in a stand of 101 with opener Dougie Lockhart (64).

Canada, who had elected to bat, had struggled in the opening stages of the three-day final in the Emirates.

Medium pacer Ryan Watson finished with three wickets for just one run, with opening bowler John Blain taking 3-27.

The Scots, who engineered a points win over Kenya in the semis, were facing a Canada side that had disposed of the hosts, United Arab Emirates, almost as emphatically.

But the gulf in class between the two sides was quickly exposed when the Canadians lost wickets steadily, Blain having struck in his first over.

Asim Butt soon made another breakthrough and, when Blain captured the wicket of Don Maxwell with the score on 49, Canada were in trouble.

Skipper Craig Wright and Paul Hoffmann picked up a wicket each, but Canada skipper Ian Billcliff was proving difficult to remove, having been dropped twice.

But then Watson struck just before lunch with only his third ball to dismiss the Canadian captain for 31, easily the best score in the innings, and the same bowler soon mopped up the tail.

Scotland lost Fraser Watts early on before establishing a 40-run partnership through Lockhart and Cedric English.

The loss of English for 23 brought together Lockhart and Hamilton and by the end of the day Canada were struggling.