Nathan Lyon put the skids under the flailing West Indies as Australia set course for an overwhelming early victory despite Darren Bravo holding on in the first Test in Hobart on Friday.
At the close of a stop-start day through showers, the Windies were 207 for six with Bravo offering spirited resistance on 94 and Kemar Roach in support on 31.
Bravo and Roach kept the Windies innings’ pulse beating with an unbeaten seventh-wicket stand of 91.
Read more: Osman Samiuddin on the West Indies and their shambolic new normal
“I think the guys are confident in Darren and me at the crease. We’ve done a pretty good job so far, hopefully we can carry on tomorrow and do a much better job,” Roach said.
Lyon claimed two wickets in one over to trigger a middle-order collapse to have the West Indies in familiar trouble in their chase after a mammoth declaration of 583 for four on the second day.
The probing off-spinner snared the wickets of Marlon Samuels and Jermaine Blackwood in his seventh over along with opener Rajendra Chandrika for 175 Test wickets to leave the hapless Caribbean tourists struggling to avoid a heavy defeat with three days left.
“I’m really confident in my skill set to get the job done. The ball is coming out beautifully out of my hand in the nets and I’ve been working hard,” said Lyon, who is playing in his 50th Test match.
The Windies’ sticky predicament was accentuated by the dismissal of skipper Jason Holder, the last of the recognised batsmen at the crease with Bravo.
Holder refused to seek a referral after being struck high on the pad by Peter Siddle and walked off for 15, leaving his side in deep strife at 116 for six.
Replays showed that the ball was missing the stumps and the towering Holder may have stayed on as the players left the field for a brief rain break.
The West Indies efforts were in sharp contrast to Australia’s run spree, propelled by a record 449-run fourth-wicket stand by Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh.
The West Australian pair eclipsed the fourth-wicket Test record of 437 set by Sri Lankans Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene against Pakistan in 2009.
It was also the biggest Test stand by Australians at home, bettering the 405-run fifth-wicket partnership by Sid Barnes and Don Bradman against England in Sydney in 1946.
But the duo fell two runs short of Australia’s all-time highest partnership for any wicket of 451 held by Bill Ponsford and Bradman against England at The Oval in 1934.
Voges also posted Australia’s highest score against the West Indies with an unbeaten 269, eclipsing Doug Walters’s 242 in 1969.
Marsh holed out just before lunch for 182, caught on the ropes by Bravo off spinner Jomel Warrican, ending a day’s occupation of the crease as he compiled his highest Test score.
Australia hammered 145 runs in the session to go to lunch at 583 for four enabling Steve Smith to declare the innings during the break.
“That partnership between Voges and Marsh was unbelievable and to have those guys out in the middle for that long and to do that job has put us in a pretty good position as bowlers,” Lyon said.
“It’s now up to us to go out and take 20 wickets.”
The Windies made a steady start after lunch, but soon began to unravel.
Kraigg Brathwaite lasted 26 balls before Josh Hazlewood trapped him leg before wicket for two in the ninth over.
Chandrika followed in the 20th over when he was deceived by a drifting Lyon delivery and got an outside edge to Smith at slip for 25.
Samuels lasted only 14 balls before he was splendidly caught and bowled by Lyon for nine.
Blackwood didn’t see out Lyon’s over and was gone five balls later, caught at bat-pad by Joe Burns, giving the spinner three for 18.
The Windies attack went down a bowler when quick Shannon Gabriel left the field with what a team spokesman said was a stress reaction in his left ankle, putting him in doubt for the rest of the series.
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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