Glenn Maxwell played the best innings of the 2023 World Cup and possibly the greatest knock in the history of ODI cricket as Australia completed a miraculous three-wicket win over Afghanistan in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Chasing a mammoth target of 292, Australia were on the brink of a heavy defeat as they slumped to 91-7. But from there, Maxwell - who was cramping severely for the latter part of the innings - smashed a devastating double century to secure victory.
Maxwell, who had been dropped earlier in the day, hit an unbelievable 201 not out off 128 balls with 21 fours and 10 sixes to single-handedly win the game and secure qualification for the semi-finals.
Victory seemed a long way away at the start. Australia's batsmen had no clue against the new-ball swing of Naveen ul Haq (2-47) and Azmatullah Omarzai (2-52).
Naveen had Travis Head nibbling at an away swinger while Omarzai castled David Warner with a booming in-swinger. Wicketkeeper Josh Inglis edged Omarzai first ball to slip and Marnus Labuschagne got run out against the run of play.
After Marcus Stoinis was trapped lbw by Rashid Khan and Mitchell Starc caught behind acrobatically off the same bowler, Australia were down in the dumps at 91-7 with Maxwell the last recognised batsman standing, in the company of captain Pat Cummins.
But then came the match-defining moment in the 22nd over, bowled by wrist spinner Noor Ahmad. Maxwell first survived an lbw dismissal on review before miscuing a sweep that looped to short fine where Mujeeb ur Rahman dropped the simplest of chances. Two lives in one over was a signal that this was Maxwell's day. And he did not hold back.
He went after Afghanistan's spinners every over, with Cummins simply blocking deliveries or turning the strike over.
Maxwell reached his hundred off 76 balls, with a little over 100 needed inside 18 overs.
Then started the real masterclass. Maxwell cramped up badly and could barely take a few steps. So he turned to golf, swinging freely from where he stood as the equation quickly came down to a run a ball.
Maxwell crossed 150 off just 104 balls, after which he unleashed the most audacious shot of the match - a reverse swept six off seamer Omarzai on one good leg.
By then, Maxwell was only hitting boundaries and both batsmen were refusing singles. It turned out to be a masterstroke as Afghanistan's bowlers kept feeding hittable deliveries under mounting pressure.
It was only fitting that Maxwell hit the winning shot - a swipe six over mid wicket for his double ton. Cummins contributed 12 in a partnership of 202.
Earlier, Afghanistan showed excellent application to post a healthy 291-5 batting first.
Opening batsman Ibrahim Zadran struck Afghanistan's maiden World Cup hundred to hold the innings together with the rest of the batting line-up making sizeable contributions throughout.
Zadran anchored the Afghan innings with an unbeaten 129 from 143 balls, a knock studded with eight fours and three sixes.
All-rounder Rashid Khan smashed an unbeaten 35 off 18 balls with three sixes and two fours to provide the late flourish.
Afghanistan crossed the 200-run mark in the 41st over; in hindsight they could have started their death overs charge a lot sooner and pushed the score past 300.
Even so, Rashid farmed the strike in the end and clobbered Mitchell Starc for two sixes and a four in the last over of the innings to make it almost a run-a-ball chase for the Aussies.
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RESULTS
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
A general guide to how active you are:
Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary
5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active
10,000 - 12,500 steps - active
12,500 - highly active
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
