Nepal and the UAE will play a winner-takes-all decider on Friday after the hosts levelled the one-day international series in Kathmandu.
Rohit Paudel's side hit back after their hefty opening day defeat two days earlier, as they completed a victory which was more comfortable than the three-wicket margin suggests.
Despite it being the middle of the working week, another appreciable crowd flooded the grass banks of the Tribhuvan University ground.
The field is shaped into the land halfway up a hill that leads to the university campus. On the high side of the ground, vantage points from which to watch the action spread far beyond the perimeter walls.
Some fans spent the entire day perched amid the bushes outside the arena, but with a perfectly serviceable view.
As Nepal’s bowlers clawed the game bat following a fast start by the UAE opener, Muhammad Waseem and Vriitya Aravind, more and more supporters wanted to get closer to the play.
Many flocked in by the traditional means of paying for admission. Others preferred stealth, as they scaled the barbed-wire fences out of the view of security staff.
The more the assembly swelled, the better the home side responded. From 71 for no loss in the 12th over, the UAE wilted.
Aravind found a boundary rider with a crisp sweep off Dipendra Singh Airee’s off-spin. Waseem, who had lasered four extraordinary sixes on his way to 50, fell to the left-arm spin of Lalit Rajbanshi.
From then on, scoring appearing impossible for the tourists. Rajbanshi and Sompal Kami took three wickets apiece as Nepal bowled their guests out for 191 in just 42.3 overs.
The home supporters waved their crimson and blue flags with increased belief, but the chase was not going to be a given.
There has been plenty of traffic on the square in recent times, with a domestic tournament played right up until the start of this series.
Both of Nepal’s openers fell cheaply to Hazrat Bilal, the fast bowler who was presented his UAE cap ahead of play, even though his debut had actually been in the first game of the series on Monday.
Aayan Khan, who had a similar experience to Bilal before the start, was as difficult to get away as he had been on Monday, even if the wickets did not follow.
And Rohan Mustafa did his best to carry his side through via sheer force of personality. He took three wickets with his off-spin. He also affected a quicksilver run out which saw him collide with the dismissed batter, Gyanendra Malla, and forced him off the field for treatment.
The ambience of the chase altered midway through the innings, though, when UAE were docked five penalty runs. It was awarded because the umpire spotted Alishan Sharafu absent-mindedly applying saliva to shine the ball.
Although that was standard practice before the onset of Covid, the laws of the game have subsequently outlawed it.
The incident raised the crowd. Although the batters continued to struggle on, with Nepal falling to 106-6 in the 30th over, they did eventually respond.
It took a seventh-wicket stand worth 62 between Gulshan Jha and Aarif Sheikh to finally settle the home side.
Gulsan, a 16-year-old all-rounder, launched one huge six over the fence in his valuable cameo of 37.
Although he became Mustafa’s third victim, he had done enough to ensure his side would ward off any late-overs jitters.
It was left to Kami to score the winning runs, as he laced a drive off Waseem’s part-time seam bowling for the four that clinched it.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
