SHARJAH // This was a day of triumph for international cricket. And apparently there was a fixture going on in Australia between the sport’s two oldest rivals, too. Not that anyone here cared a jot about that. The Ashes is so last year.
The game has some new upstarts beating down the door to be noticed, and not even conspiratorial rain in the desert can stop the juggernaut.
World, meet Afghanistan and Nepal. You might find they will be staying for a while.
And judged by the colour and skill and general spirit of endeavour they showed at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, they are the most welcome guests.
Afganistan won it in the end, by nine wickets, meaning they are set fair to qualify for a third successive World Twenty20.
Defeat has put a dent in Nepal’s hopes of going to a first. But there was a greater good here.
“The game is bringing people together,” said Kabir Khan, the Afghanistan coach. “When we play against any other team, it is only Afghan supporters.
“It was good to have opposition supporters, even when they give you stick. It gives the players a kick and our players like a challenge.
“The crowd was going mad. Whoever they were supporting they enjoyed themselves. It would have been a shame if there was no game.”
There nearly wasn’t.
If this match was played between any of the sport’s established nations, the wealthy, elite, decision-makers, it would never have happened. They would have packed up their bats and balls and gone home soon after the first rain shower.
Rightly so.
Conditions were appalling.
But the inclement weather seemed to fit the occasion. These sides have always battled to be noticed.
A bit of rain was not going to stop them. Not even rain of the quantity which usually requires an ark, rather than a team bus, to get to the stadium.
The downpour that swamped the city about an hour and a half before the scheduled 2pm start was so torrential even the roof of the main grandstand could not cope. Water gushed through cracks in the ceiling and cascaded down the staircases.
It appeared certain there would be no play when a pool of water approximately 30-feet wide gathered underneath the Qasim Noorani Stand and settled on the outfield.
Once the shower had passed, the ground staff were heroically resourceful. First, they enlisted the help of some early arriving Afghanistan supporters, as well as the spin-bowler Hamza Hotak, to shift the covers from the square.
From a distance the wicket appeared dry, but the quantity of water lying elsewhere on the field meant the prospects seem hopeless.
Undeterred, the working party found some industrial vacuum cleaners with which they attempted to shift the standing moisture. Then mattresses were located and used as sponges.
All the while, the stands were filling up. These two nations are so new to the game, their supporters do not know to be put off by rain. It is magnificent.
By 4pm, two hours after the scheduled start, the main stand where the fans were gathered was as close to bursting as the drains were. There was no way these thousands could be deprived cricket.
So the authorities made do. The boundaries were brought in to avoid the most sodden areas. Bowlers were handed towels and told to get on with it.
Even then it seemed as though the party was going to fizzle out before it has officially started. As the players finally made it to the middle, and the umpires were on the brink of calling play, more precipitation arrived.
It was entirely deflating, especially as the sun seemed to be shining brightly at the time.
The extra 30 minutes delay meant a game which had already been reduced to 10 overs per side became seven apiece.
Nepal made 73 from their overs but, with miniature boundaries to protect, could not subdue Mohammed Shahzad, who hit 43 from 22 balls to seal the win with four balls to spare.
“We would have preferred to have the full 20-over game and it didn’t really help us bringing the boundary line in to 50 metres,” said Pubudu Dassanayake, the Nepal coach.
“That wasn’t in our control but I think the guys played well. We were up there as a team and that is good to see for us at this level.”
Afghanistan’s players thrived on the atmosphere created by the competing sets of supporters.
“The crowd made the game more interesting for the players and they enjoy that,” Kabir said.
“This shows there are a lot of people following the sport in Nepal, so there is a good future for the game there.
“For them to come in such huge numbers shows there is the following – and when you have that the pool of players increases, as well.”
pradley@thenational.ae
UAE beat Canada to stay in the hunt in Group A
The hosts carved out a fighting 36-run win over Canada to stay close to the Group A leaders with a game in hand. Ireland and Hong Kong, the other victors of the day, retained the top two places in the group with wins over Uganda and the United States, respectively.
For the UAE, Mohammad Azam and Shaiman Anwar made sure Canada’s opening bowlers did not get help they hoped for from the wicket, after the rains, when they won the toss and chose to field.
However, the introduction of Harvir Baidwan did the trick for Canada as Azam gifted his wicket away.
Shaiman followed soon and UAE started losing wickets at regular intervals, but runs came at the rate of less than a ball as the hosts finished with 159 for eight.
In reply, the Canada batting order failed to rally behind the experienced Ashish Bagai (43) and Damodar Daesrath (30) and were bowled out for 123.
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MATCH INFO
Bangla Tigers 108-5 (10 ovs)
Ingram 37, Rossouw 26, Pretorius 2-10
Deccan Gladiators 109-4 (9.5 ovs)
Watson 41, Devcich 27, Wiese 2-15
Gladiators win by six wickets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.
Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.
Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
