Darren Sammy plays a shot on his way to making his first international Test century against Bangladesh.
Darren Sammy plays a shot on his way to making his first international Test century against Bangladesh.

Darren Bravo scores maiden Test ton for West Indies



DHAKA // Darren Bravo hit his first international century while Kirk Edwards missed his second of the match as West Indies tightened their grip over Bangladesh in the second Test today.

After removing the three remaining Bangladesh wickets in just over an hour to earn a 124-run first-innings lead, the dominant tourists finished day three on 207 for three to improve their victory prospects.

West Indies now lead by 331 runs with Bravo (100 not out) and nightwatchman Kemar Roach (four not out) at the crease.

Bravo sparkled in a 151-run third wicket stand with Kirk Edwards (86) before left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo broke the partnership.

Edwards, who hit 121 in the first innings, survived a scare on 69 when Shakib Al Hasan appealed for a catch off paceman Rubel Hossain only for the umpires to rule in the batsman's favour.

Replays suggested that the ball touched the ground before reaching Shakib, who was fielding at midwicket.

Shuvo denied Edwards his second century of the match though, bowling him with a fuller length delivery.

Bravo made the most of two reprieves he received on 45 when Mushfiqur Rahim and Imrul Kayes dropped him in the same Shakib over.

Bravo also survived a strong caught-behind appeal on 98 before bringing up his maiden Test century with two runs off the last ball of the day bowled by Shuvo.

Earlier, West Indies lost their scoreless opener Kraigg Brathwaite to the second ball of their second innings when Naeem Islam ran him out with a direct throw.

Shakib gave Bangladesh their second success in the second session when he had Kieran Powell caught by Nasir Hossain for 12 before Bravo and Edwards took over.

Earlier, Bangladesh, resuming on 204 for seven wickets, could add only 27 runs in 17 overs before being dismissed for a first innings total of 231.

The West Indies bowlers displayed rare discipline, conceding no extra runs, which should please a team that travels to India this week to play three Tests and five one-dayers.

Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo deceived overnight batsman Shuvo (15) with a flighted delivery to give West Indies their first success of the morning with Brathwaite taking the catch at forward short-leg.

The dismissal exposed the Bangladesh tail, prompting overnight batsman Nasir Hossain (42) to go for a slog sweep against Marlon Samuels that found Edwards at deep midwicket.

Bishoo, who finished with three for 62, bowled Shahadat Hossain (4) to give West Indies a 124-run first innings lead.

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.”

Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush

Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”

A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.

“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”

Credits

Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5

Bert van Marwijk factfile

Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder

Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia

Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands

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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press

Hotel Data Cloud profile

Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)