Australia capped off a perfect summer of Test cricket with a 176-run win over New Zealand and the captain Ricky Ponting feels his side are now ready to reclaim the Ashes.
The Australians arrived in New Zealand after clean-sweeping Pakistan and then West Indies in Tests and soon added another series win after two solid victories over the Kiwis.
The next big mission on Australia's calendar is the coveted Ashes series in November and they will be desperate for revenge after England took the honours last year.
"I don't think we could be in a better place," he said following the win over the Black Caps in Hamilton.
"There will be no excuses from us because we've done everything that I would have liked to achieve this summer and we've done it well. There were probably some question marks over our Test cricket before the summer about being inconsistent through the Ashes series."
Ponting paid special tribute to Mitchell Johnson after the win in Hamilton. The workhorse left-arm quick claimed 10 wickets to end what has been a tumultuous two years of cricket.
Johnson, who has been the go-to man for Australia over the last couple of years, consistently bowled around 150kph and was far too good for the Kiwi batsmen.
Ponting labelled the New Zealand tour as the best he has ever seen Johnson bowl. "He shouldered a massive workload as well," said Ponting.
"We tried to give him a rest here and there to keep him fresh but it says a lot about his physical condition and what great shape he's in. To be able to bowl as quick as he did after two years of non-stop cricket says a lot about him."
His counterpart Daniel Vettori blamed the series defeat on not being consistent enough and failing to take key opportunities when they arose.
After an outstanding first day with the ball in Hamilton, the home side failed to match it with the bat. "We played really well at times, but to beat Australia you have to perform over five days," he said.
"Whether it's with the bat or the ball, it's how you seize those moments. And looking back on that first innings, to only get a 40-run lead was disappointing."
Although Australia managed to win both the Chappell-Hadlee one-day international series and the recent Test series, Vettori felt New Zealand had had a reasonably successful summer.
After success at the Champions Trophy in South Africa, and back-to-back series wins over Pakistan and Bangladesh, Vettori said there were still plenty of positives to be taken from the summer. "Losing two Test matches is tough but we'll try to look at everything in isolation," he said.
* PA Sport
Australia 231 & 511-8 decl.
New Zealand 264 & (overnight 182-5):
Watling c Haddin b M Johnson 24
McIntosh b M Johnson 19
Sinclair lbw b M Clarke 29
Taylor c Haddin b M Johnson 22
Guptill c Ponting b M Johnson 58
Vettori lbw b Hauritz 22
B McCullum c M Hussey b Bollinger 51
Patel c North b Bollinger 3
Southee c M Clarke b M Johnson 45
Arnel c Haddin b M Johnson 0
C Martin not out 5
Extras (2nb, 12b, 10lb) 24
Total (all out, 91.1 overs) 301
Bowling:
Bollinger 16-2-87-2
Harris 14-3-38-0
S Watson 6-2-18-0
M Johnson 20.1-6-73-6
M Clarke 16-4-27-1
Hauritz 17-5-37-1
North 2-2-0-0
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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Following fashion
Investing is cyclical, buying last year's winners often means holding this year's losers.
Losing your balance
You end up with too much exposure to an individual company or sector that has taken your fancy.
Being over active
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Running your losers
Investors hate admitting mistakes and hold onto bad stocks hoping they will come good.
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Timing the market
Even the best investor in the world cannot consistently call market movements.
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The specs
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Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
