In 20 years as a cricketer, Chaya Mughal must have thought she had been there, done that, and got the fast-wicking, polyester t-shirt on most things the sport can throw up.
Even she, though, betrayed signs of nerves as the country’s leading female players played in front of TV cameras for the first time at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday night.
The 34-year-old schoolteacher sent down the first ball of the Women's All Stars T10, which was UAE female cricket's debut on a live broadcast. Unusually for her, it erred in direction, and was signalled as a wide.
It was understandable the players were amped up. There was a potential audience online of thousands, and even a sizeable amount present in the flesh.
The one-off fixture attracted an appreciably larger crowd than any of the men’s matches in the D10 competition over the past two weeks.
And if it ever slipped their mind that they were being watched, they only had to look up at the scoreboard, where the action was being relayed live on the big screen.
No matter the first night nerves, it did not take long for the ECB Hawks captain to regain her poise.
With one stump to aim at, Mughal affected a brilliant run out off to the first ball of the second over of the match.
Any tension about the extraneous circumstances quickly dissipated thereafter. Instead, the players became invested in the stress of the match.
The Hawks and the Falcons were two scratch sides, selected from the leading talents in the game here for the benefit of this exhibition match. As it turned out, they could not have been more evenly matched.
First, the Falcons posted 56 for six off their 10 overs, with Kavisha Kumari, their captain, batting through till the penultimate over for 38.
Chamani Senevirathne checked the Falcons’ late-overs progress with two wickets in two balls, and the Hawks carried that momentum into their reply.
Mughal led the pursuit herself, making 27 opening the batting. When she was trapped lbw by Samaira Dharnidharka, a player who is younger than half Mughal’s age, the Hawks appeared to be cruising, on 42 for one at the start of the seventh over.
They stumbled, though. Dharnidharka picked up a direct hit run out in the next over, and Mahika Gaur and Kumari – who bowled a nerveless final over – combined twice for runs outs in the final balls, and the scores finished level.
The match had been scheduled as a curtain-raiser for the final of the men’s Emirates D10. A super over had not been catered for, but they played an impromptu one anyway.
Again, Kumari bowled with composure and courage, as she required treatment for a head injury sustained in catching Mughal off her own bowling.
She went for seven off her over, and the Hawks were able to defend it as Senevirathne trapped both her Sri Lankan compatriot Kumari and Gaur lbw with just two scored.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Looking for a new family pet? Here are the links to visit when it comes to adopting...
Arabian Saluki Center of Dubai (Ascod)
Emirates Animal Welfare Society
Rescue Animals in Need United Arab Emirates
Sniff - Strays Needing Interim of Furever Friends
PARA UAE - Protection of Animal Rights Association
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Brief scoreline:
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Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
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Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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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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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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PAST 10 BRITISH GRAND PRIX WINNERS
2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2014 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2012 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2011 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2010 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
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Batti Gul Meter Chalu
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Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
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Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
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