MELBOURNE // South Africa are just 153 runs from becoming the first touring team in 16 years to post a series victory in Australia after the home side, with the exception of Ricky Ponting, failed to fire at the MCG.
The Australian skipper Ponting, who fell one run short of reaching a
century in each innings of a Test for the fourth time in his career,
played a solo hand while his teammates, many of whom were unable to
curb their attacking instincts, wilted on the fourth day.
Dale Steyn made another heroic contribution, taking his second five-
wicket haul of the game ? and his 150th Test scalp ? to go with his
invaluable 76 as the home side were dismissed for a mediocre 247.
Chasing 183 for victory, the Proteas were 30 without loss at stumps
but should have lost the wicket of Neil McKenzie, who was bowled off
a no-ball by Brett Lee.
Unless Ponting's bowlers can rouse themselves off the canvas it
seems rain will be Australia's only saviour.
If Mother Nature does not intervene, Ponting's men will become the
first Australian team to suffer a series defeat at home since
1992-93 when the mighty West Indies willed themselves to a come-from-
behind victory.
That occasion also marked the last time Australia succumbed to back-
to-back Test defeats at home.
A day after surrendering control of the match to JP Duminy and the
South African tail, Australia again endured a torrid time in the
middle.
Only Ponting and, to a lesser extent Mitchell Johnson, who made an
unbeaten 43, demonstrated the necessary stomach in a bid to reverse
the downturn.
The 19,149 fans desperately needing something to celebrate but were
stunned as Ponting was heartbreakingly denied a second century in
the game by Graeme Smith.
After not even coming close to offering a chance throughout his 257-
minute stay, Ponting's eyes lit up at a wide ball from Morne Morkel
but he succeeded only to slice a drive to Smith at short cover.
It ended a defiant innings punctuated by fluent drives and his
trademark pulls.
Unfortunately, his dismissal continued a trend of questionable get-
out shots by the hosts.
Only Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds had cause to be spared a
serve from coach Tim Nielsen.
Hussey, in his first form slump in his international career, was
befuddled by a brutal bouncer from Morkel but deserved to live
another day.
Replays showed the ball beat his bat and gloves, instead ballooning
off his helmet to the onside where Hashim Amla pouched a simple catch.
Symonds was unable to negotiate a full-pitched ball from Steyn,
edging into the safe hands of Jacques Kallis at second slip.
The other front line batsmen had only themselves to blame, all
falling to injudicious strokes.
Matthew Hayden failed to produce the career-saving innings his fans
had been hoping, caught driving for 23 in a dismissal not dissimilar
to that of his first innings.
Rather than grind his way back into form like he did in the fifth
Test of the 2005 Ashes series when he was last under pressure to
retain his place, Hayden went down swinging.
The formula proved unsuccessful and the opener, a shadow of the
batsman he was at the start of 2008, must surely be low on credits
in the bank.
His fellow opener Simon Katich, the vice-captain Michael Clarke and
the in-form wicketkeeper Brad Haddin also lost their wickets driving
at wide deliveries.
Unlike the first innings, the tail was unable to come to the rescue,
though Johnson at least offered some resistance.
*PA Sport
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
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South Africa World Cup squad
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (w), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen.
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
The specs: 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 60kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed Electronic Precision Shift
Power: 204hp
Torque: 360Nm
Range: 520km (claimed)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Company%20Profile
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
More from UAE Human Development Report:
In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
The%20Roundup
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5