Todd Astle, centre, celebrates after dismissing James Anderson to clinch victory for New Zealand over England in the first Test at Eden Park. Stu Forster / Getty Images
Todd Astle, centre, celebrates after dismissing James Anderson to clinch victory for New Zealand over England in the first Test at Eden Park. Stu Forster / Getty Images

Stokes defiance in vain as New Zealand hammer England to win first Test at Eden Park



Ben Stokes's admirable defiance was in vain as England subsided by an innings and 49 runs against New Zealand at Eden Park on Monday.

Joe Root's men, who fell to a 10th away Test defeat in their last 12 attempts, had scant chance of recovering from the moment they were bowled out for 58 in only 20.4 overs of the first session in this pink-ball series opener.

Almost two days of rain gave them a glimmer of keeping New Zealand at bay for an improbable draw - but after Root fell to what became the last ball of Day 4, hopes gradually dwindled on the way to 320 all out in the 127th over of 146 Kane Williamson's declaration challenged them to bat out.

Stokes (66), in his first Test for more than six months following his enforced Ashes absence this winter, provided most resistance - defying increasing discomfort from his stiff back and needing pain-killers to do so as he dug in for an untypically stoic 13th Test half-century, by far his slowest from 128 balls.

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But then, one ball after taking England to 300 in a sixth-wicket stand of 83 with Chris Woakes (52), Stokes' protracted and theatrical duel with Neil Wagner (3-77) ended with a mishit attempted uppercut at another short delivery and a crucial, running catch by Tim Southee at point.

It was another case of England undoing some much-improved work in their second innings, and a third instance in succession of a hammer-blow wicket falling to the final ball of a session - this time leaving Woakes with only the tail for company for a further 31.3 scheduled overs. Unsurprisingly, despite his fourth Test 50 from 109 balls, it proved too much.

Dawid Malan had perhaps represented the most plausible rearguard contender at start of play but, he got no further than the fifth over following an afternoon resumption under sunny skies.

After the left-hander was caught at second slip off Southee to leave England four down and still 227 runs adrift, the tourists ground to a halt for much of the next hour - but did not lose a wicket.

Stokes and Jonny Bairstow both batted against type, refusing to take the bait from a series of wide and full deliveries, as nine overs contained just two runs - and one scoring shot.

Bairstow was fortunate to get off the mark from the 15th ball he faced, and avoid a pair in the match, when he leg-glanced Southee too close to the wicketkeeper - only for BJ Watling to put the chance down.

He was even luckier not to go for 21 when he pulled a Todd Astle long-hop straight to mid-on, where Trent Boult was the culprit this time. But he failed to heed his warnings, and in the leg-spinner's next over pulled to midwicket where Williamson leapt high to hold a good catch.

England lost their next big wicket - to the last ball before the break, of course. Stokes, who had faced the very first ball of the day following Root's departure, continued his impressive self-restraint.

But Moeen Ali fell lbw to Boult with the second new ball when New Zealand went to DRS which demonstrated pad was hit before bat.

There was increased belief for much of the middle session that England might just grind out an unlikely stalemate, exactly five years to the day since they hung on with nine down at this venue for a famous draw and 0-0 series score.

This time, though, it was not to be as Woakes eventually fell to a short-leg catch off Wagner and then Anderson was last out, poking Astle (three for 39) into the hands of mid-off.

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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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Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
 

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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

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