Mohammad Rizwan's hundred sets up last-over win for Pakistan against South Africa in first T20

Wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a maiden hundred as Pakistan edged past South Africa by three runs in a thrilling last over finish to the first Twenty20 International in Lahore on Thursday.

Needing 19 to win off the last over, Bjorn Fortuin (17 not out) and Dwaine Pretorius (15 not out) managed 15 as pacer Faheem Ashraf held his nerves to keep South Africa down to 166-6 in 20 overs.

Rizwan's 64-ball 104 not out had six boundaries and seven sixes – most sixes by a Pakistan batsman in a Twenty20 – to lift the hosts to 169-6.

He then ran out the tourists' top-scorer Reeza Hendricks (54) in the 18th over to anchor the win.

Hendricks and Janneman Malan (44) had given the visitors a solid 53-run start by the seventh over before leg-spinner Usman Qadir took two wickets in successive overs to derail South Africa.

South Africa's most experienced batsmen David Miller (six) and skipper Heinrich Klaasen (12) also failed to lift the tempo.

Hendricks's fifth Twenty20 international fifty had eight boundaries off 42 balls while Malan hit eight boundaries and a six off just 29 balls.

For Pakistan, Qadir took 2-21 and fast bowler Haris Rauf finished with 2-44.

It was Rizwan all through Pakistan's 20 overs of batting. Rizwan, who scored his maiden Test hundred in Pakistan's second Test win in Rawalpindi earlier this week, added 68 for the second wicket with Haider Ali who made 21.

It lifted Pakistan from a disastrous start which saw skipper and top batsman Babar Azam run out off the second ball of the match for nought.

Azam hit a drive off spinner Fortuin and ran for single but the bowler hit the stumps at the non-striker end with a direct throw.

Rizwan held the innings at one end, changing gears in the 11th over when he hit three sixes off pacer Junior Dala to reach his fifty.

On his way to hundred he was dropped twice on 83 and 96 but he smashed medium pacer Andile Phehlukwayo over the deep mid-wicket boundary for his seventh six to complete hundred off 63 balls.

Rizwan is the only second Pakistan batsmen to score a Twenty20 international century behind Ahmed Shehzad who achieved the feat in Dhaka against Bangladesh in the World Cup seven years ago.

Phehlukwayo was the best South Africa bowler with 2-33. The remaining two matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday, also in Lahore.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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.”

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