Tilak Varma hit a maiden international century as India held their nerve to beat South Africa by 11 runs in the third T20 International in Centurion on Wednesday and take an unassailable lead in the four-match series.
Varma, 22, smashed an unbeaten 107 off just 56 balls as India posted a massive score of 219-6. The world champions reached the score despite losing in-form opener Sanju Samson for a second-ball duck. Fellow opener Abhishek Sharma maintained the tempo by hitting 50 from 25 balls.
Varma and Abhishek put on 107 from 50 balls for the second wicket to lay the platform for the visitors as South Africa lacked discipline with the ball, conceding 10 wides and three no balls in the innings.
Varma reached his century from 51 deliveries as he struck eight fours and seven sixes.
South Africa were always behind in their chase in the face of some excellent spin bowling from Axar Patel (1-29 in four overs) and the wiles of seamer Arshdeep Singh (3-37), but a late flurry of runs got them close.
They managed 208-7 in reply. The hosts trail India 2-1 in the four-match series with the final game to be played in Johannesburg on Friday.
With the result, India maintained their superb run in T20 series this year. The team in blue have remained unbeaten in all series and tournaments this year, including their victorious campaign at the T20 World Cup where they did not lose a single match.
Under Rohit Sharma and now Suryakumar Yadav, India have lost just two out of 25 T20 matches played in 2024.
"I was waiting for this for a long time, coming back after injury," Varma told host broadcaster SuperSport, referring to a hand injury which restricted his playing time in 2024.
"I was just thinking I have got an opportunity to bat at number three and I just wanted to express myself. It was my dream and it was the right time to score a hundred for my team. A kind of a decider in the series. Under the pressure, it was a good knock."
In reply, South Africa struggled to get going. Ryan Rickelton was out bowled for 20 – playing onto his stumps off Arshdeep.
Early in the chase, play was stopped for an odd reason – flying ants. The game resumed 20 minutes later with no overs lost.
Reeza Hendricks scored 21 off 13 before he was out stumped off spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
The wrist spinner struck again as skipper Aiden Markram scored 29 off 18 – including two sixes – before he was out caught in the deep.
India had a firm grip on the game when Tristan Stubbs (12) was out lbw, before Heinrich Klaasen tried to turn the game around.
He hit four powerful sixes – three coming in a row against Chakravarthy. When he was caught on 41 at deep point off Arshdeep, the equation looked impossible for South Africa.
But all-rounder Marco Jansen struck five sixes and four fours in his first T20 half-century to bring the hosts close to the finish line.
Arshdeep trapped Jansen lbw in the final over to pull off a hard-fought win for the world champions.
The T20 series result comes at an opportune time for India who had recently been blanked 3-0 at home in a Test series by New Zealand. Their next assignment will be the five-Test series in Australia which starts later this month.
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Match info:
Real Betis v Sevilla, 10.45pm (UAE)
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
the pledge
I pledge to uphold the duty of tolerance
I pledge to take a first stand against hate and injustice
I pledge to respect and accept people whose abilities, beliefs and culture are different from my own
I pledge to wish for others what I wish for myself
I pledge to live in harmony with my community
I pledge to always be open to dialogue and forgiveness
I pledge to do my part to create peace for all
I pledge to exercise benevolence and choose kindness in all my dealings with my community
I pledge to always stand up for these values: Zayed's values for tolerance and human fraternity
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The%20Iron%20Claw
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Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
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.”
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
