ABU DHABI // Adil Rashid celebrated his 22nd birthday by reminding England's hierarchy of his capabilities, before Craig Kieswetter stole the show by delivering the knock-out blow to the senior side at the Zayed Stadium yesterday.
Kieswetter was also toasting a landmark day of his own. This was the first match he had played as an officially qualified England player, after four years as a resident in Somerset.
The South Africa-born wicket-keeper batsman had been subjected to an overture from the captain of his homeland, Graeme Smith, to return and represent the Proteas before Christmas.
However, he confirmed his commitment to his adopted country after leading the second-string England side to a five-wicket Twenty20 win over their senior counterparts.
"I have always been 100 per cent committed to playing for England," said Kieswetter. "I'm excited about this next part of my career, especially now the four-year qualifying period is up. As nice as it was to hear that from a quality player like Graeme Smith, it did not have any effect on me or my career or where I want to go."
Kieswetter was no doubt buoyed by the words of praise directed his way by Andy Flower, the England team director, last week.
He seized his chance to impress with a brutal innings worth 81 from 66 balls, only to fall just as he was setting himself to seal the victory.
"I was a little nervous, but nerves can be quite good," he added. "Most of the boys were trying to set out a marker in terms of where they are with their game towards the national side.
"The national side want to go out and win every game leading up to their series against Pakistan, but the Lions have come off a nice series win as well.
"It was quite and aggressive, high-tempo game, and that showed as they bowled a lot of short stuff to us batters."
It was not just the second-string batsmen who impressed.
The leg-spinner, Rashid, was part of England's squad for their tour of South Africa, yet failed to impress and has since been demoted to the second-string Lions side.
However, he proved his point here by taking three big wickets for the Lions. He dismissed the captain, Paul Collingwood, as well as Kevin Pietersen and the Indian Premier League-bound Eoin Morgan.
The seniors recovered thanks to a late-order salvo from Luke Wright. The Sussex all-rounder peppered the boundary in a 21-ball stay that was eventually worth 42, hoisting his side to 157 in the process.
When Michael Lumb and Kieswetter then set about the England bowling attack the result seemed certain to favour the underdogs.
Lumb set the pace as he raced to 40 from 29 balls, before he retired hurt after he was hit in the face by a Stuart Broad bouncer.
Fortunately for the Lions, Lumb had returned to full health in time to return to the crease for the final overs, and coaxed them over the line by hitting the final two balls to the fence.
pradley@thenational.ae
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
Race 3
Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
The%20specs
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S23%20ULTRA
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Northern Warriors 92-1 (10 ovs)
Russell 37 no, Billings 35 no
Team Abu Dhabi 93-4 (8.3 ovs)
Wright 48, Moeen 30, Green 2-22
Team Abu Dhabi win by six wickets
More on Quran memorisation:
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
