Story of the match
The contest was between the Pakistan Super League's top two teams in the play-offs, and they provided the packed Dubai Sports City stadium full money's value on Friday night.
The equation in the last over was Peshawar Zalmi were left with eight runs to win.
Veteran seamer Aizaz Cheema was given the task of defending it for Quetta Gladiators.
He bowled a dot ball to start the over but the next, a low full toss, was whacked to the wide long-on fence by Wahab Riaz. He took a single in the next and Hassan Ali top-edged the next for Cheema to hold on to the skier.
Ahmed Shehzad held on to another skier to get rid of the dangerous looking Riaz (22) in the next ball and, with three runs required to win from the last delivery, Cheema conceded a single to clinch a nail-biting one-run win for the Gladiators.
Drinks Break podcast: PSL experience makes Pakistan Asia Cup T20 favourites - Ep 18
Kevin Pietersen and Kumar Sangakkara set the platform for the Gladiators with a valuable 79-run stand for the third wicket.
The veteran pair came together after the Gladiators lost both their openers with the score at 11 and set about to rebuild the innings.
The total at the end did not appear to be a strong one but the Gladiators bowlers, particularly Mohammed Nawaz and Grant Elliott, stuck to their task to guide their team to victory.
West Indian Darren Sammy kept Zalmi’s chances alive with a brisk 38, but he hit one too many and was caught at long on by Nathan McCullum for Nawaz’s third victim.
Pietersen’s 38-ball 53 was highlighted by five fours and two sixes and Sangakkara smashed half-a-dozen boundaries in his 29-ball 37. Nawaz chipped in with a useful 20 but not one of the others got into double figures.
Gladiators lost their two openers cheaply and then lost the last three wickets in three balls with Riaz taking two and a run-out in-between.
It looked like a comfortable chase for Zalmi as the two openers Mohammed Hafeez and Kamran Akmal set about the chase by scoring 29 off 27 balls when the latter departed.
Turning point
There were quite a few, but the two wickets from two balls from left-arm spinner Nawaz turned the game around for Quetta.
Until then, Zalmi seemed to be on top of the game, with openers Hafeez (15) and Kamran (9) putting on 29 off 27 balls before Anwar Ali got one through the latter’s defence.
Nawaz introduced to the attack in the next over knocked Hafeez’s off-stump with his first delivery and had Brad Hodge out for a golden duck, beaten by a delivery that pitched on the middle and turned sharply.
Kevin Pietersen, Quetta He would have still been playing for England in the T20 format if not for the off-field controversies surrounding him.
He walked in with just two balls bowled and watched the other opener, Shehzad, depart in the first ball of the fourth over when the scoreboard read 11. Any other batsman would have been cautious but Pietersen had other ideas: attack was his best defence.
Pietersen hit 53 off 38 balls and his 79-run stand with Sangakkara formed the basis of the Gladiators’ challenging total.
The National’s verdict
Quetta have secured their place in the PSL final with this win.
Peshawar have another chance to join them there when they face the winners of today’s second qualifying final between Islamabad United and Karachi Kings.
Overcoming Quetta will be no easy task, as the underdogs have proven their worth.
apassela@thenational.ae
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Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:
Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm
Thursday April 25: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm
Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm
Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm
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Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
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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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