Saying the future looks bright for UAE women’s cricket feels like it is underselling the point given that a 14-year-old schoolgirl bowled them to the next phase of T20 World Cup qualifying.
Samaira Dharnidharka, who was granted time off from her Year 10 studies at Gems Winchester to play, took four wickets for five runs in a sparkling spell at the ICC Academy.
It set the seal on a dominant 48-run win for the national team over Nepal, as they clinched a clean-sweep in the Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier.
Their rousing success means they will advance to the global Qualifier, to be played next year. If they finish in the top two places in that eight-team competition, they will play at the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa.
Their success was built on collective effort, not least in the form of some fine young talent.
The 17-year-old opener Theertha Satish was the tournament’s leading run-scorer. Nineteen-year-old Khushi Sharma took the most wickets.
And, when the pressure was on in the decider against Nepal, it was a 14-year-old bowler who settled the nerves with a four-wicket salvo.
“I just took it as a normal game, and — as a 14-year-old — you want to create a long-lasting impression,” Dharnidharka said.
“My aim was to hit the deck and keep bowling dots. If I did that, we knew wickets would come, so I wanted to keep building pressure.
“I have had to miss school, but they are really proud of me.”
Rarely for a match involving Nepal in the UAE, the home team had the noisier support.
Indeed the cheer squad which followed the UAE’s matches over the past week far exceeded anything the men’s team have had in the past.
It included choreographed songs, and the accompaniment of a portable speaker. They sung “That’s the way, Maahi ve,” when Mahika Gaur, the exceptional 15-year-old left-armer, was bowling.
There were placards with various messages, including “Khushi strikes again” whenever she took a wicket.
“It is awesome,” Dharnidharka said of the support. “It feels great to have such a lot of support. You get extra motivation and it creates pressure on the other team.”
For all the excellence of the young players during the course of the tournament, UAE’s success was overseen by the assured figure of Chamani Seneviratna.
The 43-year-old all-rounder, who played six World Cups for Sri Lanka in the past before moving to Sharjah, saved her best for the final match.
She earned the player of the match award against Nepal after her 36-ball 52 took UAE to 127 for five. She then took two for six with the ball as Nepal were bowled out for 79.
“We have talented players but I think we need to raise our standard when we are going to the global Qualifier,” Seneviratna said.
“We have to work towards that, and keep enjoying ourselves. We have good, talented players and I think we have a positive future to look forward to.
“Playing with these youngsters, I just tell them to settle, to stay at the wicket, and once they are settled that’s when they can play a long innings.
“They can take advantage of when they are playing with me, and share their ideas with me, and that makes things easier.”
Immediately after sealing victory, the team received a Zoom call from Robin Singh, the UAE head coach who was on tour with the men’s side in Namibia.
“We had a plan and, thanks to God, we achieved that goal,” Najeeb Amar, Singh’s assistant, who was in charge of the women’s side, said.
“The best of it was it was completely a team effort. They listened well to whatever the plans were and implemented them in the field.
“The highlight today was Samaira. We kept her for this game, and we knew what she could do. She delivered it, and I am really proud of her.”
New Zealand 57-0 South Africa
Tries: Rieko Ioane, Nehe Milner-Skudder (2), Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Ofa Tu'ungfasi, Lima Sopoaga, Codie Taylor. Conversions: Beauden Barrett (7). Penalty: Beauden Barrett
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
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Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Match info
Manchester City 3 (Jesus 22', 50', Sterling 69')
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 65')
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
