Just hold on a minute. Are we really all ready for an American takeover of cricket? The sport has apparently been waiting forever for the United States to happen. Well, here we go.
A week into their first attempt at co-hosting a T20 World Cup, the USA have cracked it. And it is all a bit unnerving.
On opening night, they were spellbinding in beating a close rival.
They have provided a cricket fan bucket-list venue at the baseball ballpark-turned cricket ground in Dallas, which hosted perhaps the most vivid spectacle of the tournament so far when Nepal played the Netherlands.
And now, the greatest moment yet in the long and storied history of United States cricket.
Better than them hosting the first ever international cricket match (albeit a loss to Canada in Manhattan in 1844).
Better than that time President Barack Obama said, shortly after starting his tenure in the White House, said he was reading Netherland, the cricket-based novel by Joseph O’Neill.
On Thursday, they beat Pakistan. They did it in the most thrilling manner imaginable, via a Super Over. Although they needed that tiebreaker to settle it, the USA fully deserved it.
If it is possible to dominate a nerve-shredding tie, then they managed it. They were brilliant.
How did they manage to be so cool? This time last year, the USA players were getting themselves into trouble with cricket’s authorities as they were getting het up over playing against Jersey in front of a handful of people in Windhoek.
The Channel Islanders are a few rungs down the ladder from Pakistan, and yet, with a partisan crowd baying for the other team as well as millions watching on TV, the USA controlled it. It was crazy stuff.
The USA had enjoyed the perfect start on the opening day of the competition on Saturday. But that win had come against the side they know better than anyone else: Canada.
Pakistan presented an entirely different proposition. The two countries had never previously met in international cricket, and the home players would have been right to feel at least some sense of trepidation.
The exalted – if enigmatic – status of their opposition will not have been wasted on them. Then when the starting XIs came out, they will have seen they were going up against three of the fieriest fast bowlers in the world, plus one of its cleverest, in the form of the returning Mohammed Amir.
Their ambitions for a win would have been more in the region of hope rather than expectation. And then, off the eighth ball of the match, Steven Taylor gave them reason to believe that anything was possible.
The Floridian all-rounder has been known as “Bob” since he first started out with his national team, on account of him taking a SpongeBob SquarePants backpack with him on his first USA tour. He has been a part of the furniture with their side for over 15 years.
Whether in all that time he has enjoyed quite such a memorable moment as here seems unlikely. He dived across to his right from his position at slip and held a one-handed catch an inch off the beautifully manicured grass at the Grand Prairie Stadium.
It spelt the end of Mohammed Rizwan’s stay at the wicket, and the start of a muddled display by the Pakistan batters.
Usman Khan and Fakhar Zaman gave away their wickets with poorly thought-through shots. Babar Azam made a pedestrian 44. Azam Khan fell first ball.
Limiting them to 159 for seven from their 20 overs will have been satisfactory, at the very least, for the USA. But, given the capabilities of Pakistan’s bowling attack, chasing it was never going to be a given.
They went about the chase with all the assurance of a side of seasoned veterans from the game’s elite, not one who washes around the second tier of the sport, gathering crumbs from under the rich man’s table.
Monank Patel led the way with 50. Andries Gous powered them forward. Aaron Jones continued to write his name in lights, just as he did on opening night.
They did stutter just as the winning line was in sight, and needed a last-ball boundary by Nitish Kumar to level the scores.
Jones was again their go-to guy with the bat in the Super Over that followed, although the fact they reached 18 was more an indictment of Pakistan.
Only 10 of those runs were off the bat. The eight extras off Amir’s over included overthrows by wicketkeeper Rizwan off a wide.
The hosts matched Pakistan’s gameplan by using their own left-arm seamer, Saurabh Netravalkar, to bowl. He was nervy, understandably so, but he got the job done.
It is tempting to suggest he started the party by limiting Pakistan to 13. In truth, what he did was extend it.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
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.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
