Cricket World Cup Qualifier: Teams and UAE's fixtures

The Cricket World Cup Qualifier begins in Zimbabwe on Sunday.

The 10-team competition carries with it the final two places for the main event in India, which is set to take place in October and November.

How does it work?

There are two pools of five teams. Each side plays each other once, and the top three teams in the group advance to the Super Six.

That is a six-team group in which teams play a match each against the sides who have advanced from the other first-round pool to theirs.

They carry forward the points from the first round from the matches against the other teams that went through with them.

The sides who fail to qualify for the second round will stay on to play play-offs for consolation places.

What is UAE’s form?

The UAE are the lowest seeded side in the event as they were last to seal their place, as runners up in the Qualifier Play-off in Namibia.

Their form at that event was a vast improvement on what had gone before, after a miserable run during the final days of Robin Singh’s spell as coach.

They had a chastening preparatory series ahead of flying to Zimbabwe, as they were swept 3-0 in Sharjah by West Indies.

They won their first official warm-up match in Harare, against Nepal, but were then trounced again by West Indies in the second.

UAE fixtures

Monday, June 19, v Sri Lanka at Queen’s Sports Club.

Wednesday, June 21, v Oman at Bulawayo Athletic Club.

Friday, June 23, v Scotland at Bulawayo Athletic Club.

Tuesday, June 27, v Ireland at Bulawayo Athletic Club.

UAE squad

Muhammad Waseem (captain), Ethan D'Souza, Ali Naseer, Vriitya Aravind, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Jawadullah, Asif Khan, Rohan Mustafa, Aayan Khan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Sanchit Sharma, Aryansh Sharma, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed

The teams

GROUP A

1 WEST INDIES

How they qualified: Ninth in the ODI Super League

Captain: Shai Hope

One to watch: Rovman Powell

Smashed a window during a six blitz the last time this competition was played, four years ago in Harare. He returns as the Windies vice-captain.

Rovman Powell is West Indies vice-captain. AFP

2 ZIMBABWE

How they qualified: 12th in the ODI Super League

Captain: Craig Ervine

One to watch: Sikandar Raza

One of three nominees for the ICC’s Garry Sobers award for leading international cricketer last year, and his form has scarcely dropped off since.

Sikandar Raza has been in great form for Zimbabwe. Getty

3 NETHERLANDS

How they qualified: Last in the ODI Super League

Captain: Scott Edwards

One to watch: Bas de Leede

Not all the Netherlands’ leading lights are available for this tournament, but their standout all-rounder has got time off from UK county cricket to play.

All-rounder Bas de Leede will be one to watch for the Netherlands. Getty

4 NEPAL

How they qualified: Third in CWC League 2

Captain: Rohit Paudel

One to watch: Kushal Malla

The left-handed all-rounder has been revived in a side that has sparkled under the coaching of Monty Desai this year.

5 UNITED STATES

How they qualified: Qualifier Play-off winners

Captain: Monank Patel

One to watch: Ali Khan

The fast bowler is suspended for the first two matches due to disciplinary offences, but one of the most eye-catching players in the tournament.

United States bowler Ali Khan is suspended for their opening two games. Photo: USA Cricket

GROUP B

1 SRI LANKA

How they qualified: 10th in the ODI Super League

Captain: Dasun Shanaka

One to watch: Matheesha Pathirana

The 20-year-old quick has played just a lone ODI so far but has already earned himself the nickname “Baby Malinga” based on the resemblance of his style to the great Lasith.

Matheesha Pathirana's bowling style is similar to Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga's. AFP

2 IRELAND

How they qualified: 11th in the ODI Super League

Captain: Andrew Balbirnie

One to watch: Harry Tector

The ICC’s player of the month for May, having beaten Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Bangladesh’s Najmal Hossain Shanto to the award.

Ireland's Harry Tector was ICC’s player of the month for May. Reuters

3 SCOTLAND

How they qualified: CWC League 2 winners

Captain: Richie Berrington

One to watch: Chris Sole

The fast bowler took 4-50 against West Indies in the first warm-up match, including the powerful top three of Johnson Charles, Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks.

Chris Sole took four wickets during Scotland's warm-up game against West Indies. Photo: USA Cricket

4 OMAN

How they qualified: Second in CWC League 2

Captain: Zeeshan Maqsood

One to watch: Aqib Ilyas

A top order batter who also bowls off- or leg-spin depending on what suits the situation. Has had a wretched run with injuries but made a century in the warm-up game against Zimbabwe.

Oman's Aqib Ilyas has struggled with injuries but has just scored a century in a warm-up game. AFP

5 UAE

How they qualified: Qualifier Play-off runner up

Captain: Muhammad Waseem

One to watch: Ali Naseer

Shone with back-to-back half-centuries against West Indies in his debut series for the senior team. The 19-year-old student punched his ticket to the Qualifier in the process.

UAE's Ali Naseer scored back-to-back half-centuries against West Indies. AFP

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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.”

While you're here

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Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

Last five meetings

2013: South Korea 0-2 Brazil

2002: South Korea 2-3 Brazil

1999: South Korea 1-0 Brazil

1997: South Korea 1-2 Brazil

1995: South Korea 0-1 Brazil

Note: All friendlies

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: HyperSpace

Started: 2020

Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Entertainment

Number of staff: 210

Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners

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