When Karachi Kings put their side together at the player draft for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) they packed their side with all-rounders. Did they know they would only need one, as long as his name was Ravi Bopara?
Bopara was their man of the moment again on Friday in Sharjah, as an astonishing all-round performance sealed a simple 27-run win over Lahore Qalandars, and a double in what is, traditionally, the prickliest city rivalry in the country.
Read more: Karachi Kings benefit from another Ravi Bopara half century and some wickets
Bopara first made a 43-ball 71, his second successive half century, before taking 6-14 to cripple a chase – of 179 – that had begun with a fair degree of confidence. It was only the third time in the history of all T20 cricket that a player scored a fifty and took six wickets: one of the other players to do it is Shakib Al Hasan, Bopara’s teammate in this league.
Bopara’s 67 on Thursday evening had almost sealed a remarkable win over Peshawar Zalmi; his 71 was a more calculated affair, which looked halfway through the match to have taken Karachi to a reasonable total, rather than a daunting one.
Read more: Peshawar Zamli captain Shahid Afridi still the main attraction in Sharjah as Karachi Kings fall just short
It was also fortunate in that he was dropped once. Lahore, in fact, were abysmal in the field, shelling a barely-believable eight catches. There is not supposed to be enough time in a 20-over innings to do that.
When he came on to bowl, he struck gold with his first ball; Lahore had just lost Cameron Delport off the last ball of the previous over, ending a confident opening stand of 98. At that stage, the start of the 12th over and with Chris Gayle still in, Lahore should have cruised it.
But Bopara induced a Gayle top-edge and then, three balls, later, dismissed Dwayne Bravo as well to put the brakes on. That sparked a massive collapse – Lahore losing eight for 53 and Bopara to the fore.
Four overs later, he was on a hat-trick, dismissing Mohammad Rizwan and Hammad Azam off successive deliveries. He was denied, but not for long, taking another wicket off the next ball.
By the time he dismissed Umar Akmal in his last over, the game was over and the only interest was in whether he could take another off his last four deliveries to become the first man to take seven wickets in the format.
He could not, but it hardly mattered. Bopara is now both the tournament’s leading run-scorer and wicket-taker: grant him the keys to the city, or at least honorary citizenship.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Match info:
Manchester City 2
Sterling (8'), Walker (52')
Newcastle United 1
Yedlin (30')
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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Sector: PropTech
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