The UAE’s miserable start to Cricket World Cup League 2 continued as they suffered a third straight defeat at Dubai International Stadium.
It says much about the national team’s frayed relationship with this competition that an eight-run loss to Canada represented a vast improvement on what had gone before.
And yet it was another game thrown away by the home team. This tournament – an eight-team One-Day International league that lasts for over three years – might be at its start, there is plenty of time for the UAE to come good yet, but still, they have been painfully profligate in their first week back.
Having been trounced by Canada in their first meeting last week, then by Scotland two days ago, the national team shuffled their pack again.
In a bid to find a solution to the long-term issues with their batting, out went Alishan Sharafu and Asif Khan.
The former had been one of the stars of the International League T20 tournament that preceded this event, and the latter scored the fastest ODI ton by an Associate cricketer when UAE last played a series in this competition.
In their place came something old and something new. Tanish Suri was restored to the top of the order, two games after he suffered a chastening ODI debut.
And CP Rizwan took Asif’s spot at No 4, a year after he was dumped as the team's captain during the wretched final days of Robin Singh’s spell as coach.
Each showed moments of promise as UAE started out well in their pursuit of a rain-revised target of 237 from 46 overs.
Suri shared in a breezy opening stand of 57 with captain Muhammad Waseem, before becoming the first of Dillon Heyliger’s four victims.
Rizwan also made a perky start on his return, but when he was third out with the score on 121, just over halfway through the innings, the wheels fell off the chase.
Vriitya Aravind top scored with 51, but, after he was the victim in the latest of a series of run outs in which he has been involved, the UAE failed to recover the momentum.
“I felt we could chase that,” said UAE captain Waseem.
“When Tanish and I were batting I was happy and very confident, but once again we collapsed in the middle and played some slow cricket.”
By the end, Canada – for whom Harsh Thaker scored a fine century in a total of 241-6 – were good value for the win, as they kept the home team to 228-8 in their 46 overs.
It means they are three from three in a competition they had not even been a part of during the previous cycle.
While they can continue to revel in a job well done so far, their opponents need to find answers quickly.
This is the first series in charge for their new coach, Lalchand Rajput. The former India batter is unlikely to have been impressed by what he has seen from his new charges so far, and it would not be a surprise if there are more changes next time out, when they face Scotland again.
Waseem said it is clear where his side’s issues lie.
“As I said after the last game, we have to step up as a batting team,” said Waseem, who made 42 at the top of the order in the run chase.
“We did well for the first 20-25 overs but after that we played some slow cricket.
"We are in a checking phase, giving opportunities to everyone, and I hope they will do well in the upcoming games. I hope after some games, the team will be good.”
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.”
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
If you go
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.
