Pakistan rode on a brilliant century from Babar Azam and fast bowler Usman Shinwari's five wickets to beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the second day-night international on Monday as Karachi staged its first ODI in a decade.
Azam smashed a solid 105-ball 115 to lift Pakistan to 305-7 after the home team won the toss and batted.
Shinwari then knocked off the top-order in figures of 5-51 as the visitors - depleted by the withdrawal of 10 players who refused to tour over security fears - were bowled out for 238 in 46.5 overs.
The win gives Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the first ODI rained off in Karachi on Friday. The third and final match is also set for the same venue on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka were down and out at 28-5 before youngsters Shehan Jayasuriya and Dasun Shanaka staged a fightback during their record 177-run stand - an ODI record for this wicket for Sri Lanka.
Jayasuriya missed his maiden hundred by four runs while Shanaka notched his highest ODI score of 68, but both fell in the space of three balls to surrender the fight.
Jayasuriya hit seven boundaries and a six in his 107-ball knock while Shanaka had six fours and two sixes in his 80 balls.
Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed praised Sri Lanka's fightback.
"Sri Lanka fought back hard and we did not get wickets through our spinners in the middle overs," said Sarfaraz. "We batted well with Babar and Fakhar doing well."
Sri Lankan skipper Lahiru Thirimanne praised Jayasuriya and Shanaka.
"It was a great effort by Shehan and Shanaka," said Thirimanne. "Disappointing the way we batted in the first 10 overs but the two youngsters showed us how to bat and led our fight."
The match marked the first ODI cricket to be played in Karachi since the same two teams played there in January 2009, on the tour when the visitors' bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore.
International cricket remained suspended in Pakistan for six years before Zimbabwe became the first team to play there in 2015, with Pakistan using the UAE as their adopted home.
Pakistan also hosted a World XI (three Twenty20s), Sri Lanka (one T20 international) and the West Indies (three T20) in the last three years.
Like in the recent series, Pakistan have put in place stringent security arrangements for the Sri Lankan team, with 2,000 security personnel in and around teams' hotels and stadium.
A crowd of 12,000 came to watch the return of ODI cricket to their city, weathering heat and various security check-posts, using special shuttles to reach the National stadium.
Shinwari dismissed Sadeera Samarawickrama (six), Avishka Fernando (nought) and skipper (Lahiru Thirimanne (nought) to rattle Sri Lanka to 22-4 by the eighth over.
Jayasuriya and Shanaka bettered the previous best sixth wicket stand of 159 between Chamara Kapugedera and Chamara Silva against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 2008.
It was Azam who treated the fans in the afternoon.
Azam, when on 54, became the fifth batsman to complete 1,000 ODI runs in 2019 - behind India's duo Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and Australian couple Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja.
He added an innings-building 111 for the third wicket with Haris Sohail (40), as Sri Lankan bowlers toiled to break the stand.
It was only through an unfortunate run out that Sohail fell, leaving Azam to anchor the innings. He square cut pacer Lahiru Kumara for a boundary to complete his 11th ODI hundred off 97 balls.
Azam was finally out at deep mid-on off Kumara, cracking eight boundaries and four sixes.
Iftikhar Ahmed batted aggressively for his 20-ball 32 not out - two sixes and as many boundaries - as Pakistan made 89 in the last 10 overs.
Openers Fakhar Zaman (54) and Imam-ul-Haq gave Pakistan a solid start of 73 before Sri Lanka's best bowler, leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, trapped Imam for 31.
Hasaranga also had Fakhar for a 65-ball 54 that was studded with six boundaries and a six. Hasaranga finished with 2-63.
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
GOODBYE%20JULIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohamed%20Kordofani%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiran%20Riak%2C%20Eiman%20Yousif%2C%20Nazar%20Goma%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Seven%20Winters%20in%20Tehran
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%20%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Steffi%20Niederzoll%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Reyhaneh%20Jabbari%2C%20Shole%20Pakravan%2C%20Zar%20Amir%20Ebrahimi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
The 100 Best Novels in Translation
Boyd Tonkin, Galileo Press
LOVE%20AGAIN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Jim%20Strouse%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStars%3A%20Priyanka%20Chopra%20Jonas%2C%20Sam%20Heughan%2C%20Celine%20Dion%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo V6
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 405hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 562Nm at 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.2L/100km
Price: From Dh292,845 (Reserve); from Dh320,145 (Presidential)
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%20Supercharged%203.5-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20400hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20430Nm%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh450%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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.”
