Kane Williamson said his New Zealand side are looking forward to facing England again, after booking a place in Wednesday’s semi-final in Abu Dhabi.
New Zealand beat Afghanistan by eight wickets at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Sunday, which secured their progression to the last four behind Pakistan.
The result consigned the Afghans to the exit. It also rendered the final Super 12 match, between India and Namibia in Dubai on Monday, a dead rubber.
With it now impossible for them to advance, India cancelled their Saturday evening training session. Virat Kohli will now lead for the last time in T20 internationals in the knowledge a trophy is beyond him.
For New Zealand, though, they have the reward of place against England, who were their conquerors in the final of the 50-over version of the World Cup two years ago.
“We know they are a very strong side,” Williamson said, after making 40 not out in the run chase against the Afghans.
“For us, it is important we keep learning and focus on the good things we have been doing and the kind of cricket we want to play.
“They have been playing really nicely throughout this competition. A number of teams have.
“It has been an incredibly tough competition and we have seen a lot of tight games. We are looking forward to the occasion.”
Although England started the competition in dominant fashion, they have suffered setbacks in their past two matches.
Tymal Mills was ruled out of the tournament by a thigh injury sustained against Sri Lanka, while Jason Roy had to be helped from the field with a calf injury while batting against South Africa.
Roy went for a scan at a Dubai hospital on Sunday. If he is ruled out, England will need to reshuffle their batting line up, with Jonny Bairstow likely to be promoted to open.
“When you look at the England order they have guys who can easily slot in to open,” Adam Milne, the New Zealand fast bowler, said.
“Whatever team they put out we know it will be strong, and it is going to be a challenge.”
Afghanistan came into the match knowing a win would put them level on points with New Zealand, and a superior run-rate would put them into second in the table.
Had that happened, India would have stood a chance of leapfrogging both sides with a hefty win over Namibia.
The Afghans rarely threatened to make that happen, though. They were 19-3 at the start of the sixth over, with their powerful top three of Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammed Shahzad and Rahmanullah Gurbaz all departing cheaply.
At least Najibullah Zadran gave them something to bowl at. The left-hander made 73 in 48 balls to help his side to 124-8.
Trent Boult was the pick of New Zealand’s bowlers, with 3-17, while James Neesham held a fine diving catch on the boundary and conceded just two runs from the final over of Afghanistan’s innings.
Afghanistan’s main threats with the ball, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Rashid Khan, each tasted success during New Zealand’s run chase.
Mujeeb had Daryl Mitchell caught at the wicket by Shahzad for 17, and Rashid bowled the in-form Martin Guptill for 28.
Those dismissals apart, the going was easy for New Zealand’s batters. Devon Conway, with 36 not out, and Williamson took them to the win with 11 balls to spare.
Mohammed Nabi, Afghanistan’s captain, said his side’s batters had not done enough to force the win.
“On this kind of pitch, this is not a decent total,” Nabi said.
“Still we tried our best with the ball. We played good cricket in the tournament, and we will take a lot of positives. We need to correct the mistakes we made with the bat.”
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
RESULTS
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more from Janine di Giovanni
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.”
