'World class' Kane Williamson steers New Zealand to dramatic victory over Sri Lanka

New Zealand conjured up a remarkable victory for the second time in two weeks by chasing down a target of 285 runs on the final ball of the rain-shortened final day to beat Sri Lanka by two wickets in the first Test in Christchurch on Monday.

The dramatic win, which came on the back of the one-run victory over England after following on in Wellington, put the hosts 1-0 up in the two-match series and ended Sri Lanka's hopes of playing in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

New Zealand's win means India will contest the WTC final this summer against Australia.

Kane Williamson played the leading role by notching his 27th Test century in a beautifully controlled innings of 121 not out after the first 4 1/2 hours of play at Hagley Oval had been washed out by rain.

The winning run came when the former captain and the injured Neil Wagner ran a bye, Williamson securing the victory by diving full length to get his bat down in the crease before a direct hit broke the stumps.

"Seeing how calm he is out in the middle keeps us calm as well," captain Tim Southee said of Williamson.

"The guys were very trusting in what he was going to do and alongside Daryl [Mitchell] for most of the day it was a great partnership that got us in that great position.

"He's a world-class player and world-class players are able to perform in different conditions."

The Black Caps went into the final day on 28-1 needing 257 more runs for victory and after the rain finally cleared were allowed 52 overs in one extended session to achieve the task.

First-innings centurion Mitchell contributed 81 to a stand of 142 with Williamson for the fourth wicket that put victory within grasp but there were plenty of nervous moments before the win was finally secured with eight wickets down.

Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya, left, Dimuth Karunaratne, centre, and Niroshan Dickwella celebrate the wicket of New Zealand's Tom Latham. AFP

Sri Lanka were still chasing a win that would keep them on course for a spot in the WTC final and Prabath Jayasuriya put them on the front foot with two early wickets.

The left-arm spinner bowled Tom Latham for 25 and had Henry Nicholls caught in the deep for 20 but that only brought Williamson and Mitchell together in the middle.

Seamer Asitha Fernando (3-63) gave Sri Lanka renewed hope with yorkers to dismiss Mitchell and Tom Blundell (three) before having Michael Bracewell (10) caught at deep midwicket.

That set up the dramatic finish with New Zealand needing 15 runs from the last two overs, and local nerves intensified when Southee holed out in the deep and Matt Henry was run out.

Williamson kept his own nerve and clubbed a four off the fourth ball of the final over but Fernando's last two deliveries were short and high, giving the batsmen no option but to go for an undignified scramble to secure victory.

Sri Lanka would have qualified for the WTC final if they had swept New Zealand in the two-match series and Australia denied India victory in the ongoing fourth Test in Ahmedabad.

India will now take on Australia, who had already qualified, in the final at The Oval in London starting on June 7.

The second Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka starts at Wellington's Basin Reserve on Friday.

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MATCH INFO

Sheffield United 0 Wolves 2 (Jimenez 3', Saiss 6)

Man of the Match Romain Saiss (Wolves)

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.”