Sport

Dilshan, Mathews help Sri Lanka share day's honours

The Indian bowlers keep chipping away at wickets but the visitors also batted positively with the wicket offering turn and bounce from Day One.

MUMBAI // The Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan posted his 11th Test century as the visitors made 366 for eight on a fluctuating first day of the third and final Test against India. Dilshan's 160-ball 109 and his brisk 93-run partnership for the opening wicket with Tharanga Paranavitana (53) were the feature of Sri Lanka's innings after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat. The offspinner Harbhajan Singh (4-107) struck some crucial blows to stop Sri Lanka's progress as the hosts bounced back into the contest after struggling in the opening session. Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan all-rounder, hit a career-best 86 not out to give Sri Lanka a narrow edge as it seeks to level the series. Mathews, who had just one half-century in his previous six Tests, struck 13 boundaries off 118 balls and featured in two prosperous partnerships: 74 for the fifth wicket with Dilshan and 67 for the sixth with Prasanna Jayawardene (43). Sri Lanka lost three wickets in the closing stages, leaving Muttiah Muralitharan at the crease at stumps, yet to score.

Dilshan struck two sixes and 10 fours to stamp his authority against India's pace attack, and forced home captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to turn to his spinners earlier than he would have hoped. He was finally given out caught by Murali Vijay at forward short leg but replays showed that the ball bounced off his pad. Paranavitana struck seven boundaries off 81 balls before offspinner Harbhajan got India's first breakthrough, inducing an edge to Rahul Dravid at first slip. After toiling in the field against Sri Lanka's opening pair, India struck back with three wickets in the afternoon session to slow the visitors' scoring. The left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (2-97) dismissed Sangakkara caught behind for 18. Pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (1-39) then removed Mahela Jayawardene, who top-edged an intended pull-shot to Yuvraj Singh at backward square-leg. Harbhajan then snared Thilan Samaraweera's (one) wicket, inducing a bat-pad catch to Vijay at short-leg. Harbhajan later dismissed Rangana Herath (one) and also featured in Prasanna Jayawardene's dismissal, taking the catch off Ojha's bowling. * AP

Sri Lanka (first innings): T Paranavitana c Dravid b Harbhajan 53 T Dilshan c Vijay b Harbhajan 109 K Sangakkara c Dhoni b Ojha 18 M Jayawardene c Sehwag b Sreesanth 29 T Samaraweera c Vijay b Harbhajan 1 A Mathews batting 86 P Jayawardene c Harbhajan b Ojha 43 N Kulasekara c Dhoni b Zaheer 12 R Herath c Dravid b Harbhajan 1 M Muralitharan not out 0 Extras (4b, 4lb, 2w, 4nb) 14 Total (eight wickets; 89 overs) 366 Fall of wickets: 1-93, 2-128, 3-187, 4-188, 5-262, 6-329, 7-359, 8-362 Bowling: Zaheer 19-2-70-1 (4nb, 1w), Sreesanth 14-1-66-1 (1w), Harbhajan 29-2-107-4, Ojha 23-1-97-2, Yuvraj 4-0-18-0.

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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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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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Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.

Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.

But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.

Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.

Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.

The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.

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