Sri Lankan cricketer Tillekeratne Dilshan, centre, celebrates with captain Kumar Sangakkara, left, and Nuwan Kulasekara after the dismissal of Mohammad Ashraful.
Sri Lankan cricketer Tillekeratne Dilshan, centre, celebrates with captain Kumar Sangakkara, left, and Nuwan Kulasekara after the dismissal of Mohammad Ashraful.

Sri Lanka's Dilshan is having a ball



Tillakaratne Dilshan confirmed his impressive return to form with a match-winning all-round performance yesterday to help Sri Lanka, the host nation, hand a crushing 126-run defeat to Bangladesh in their Asia Cup clash in Dambulla. The opener had been out of sorts, most notably in the World Twenty20 and in the Indian Premier League before that, until he scored an unbeaten 60 and then followed that up with a century in the recent tour of Zimbabwe.

The dashing right-hander followed up those knocks with a 51-ball 71 yesterday to lay the foundation for the huge total of 312 for four. Dilshan shared in a 111-run opening stand with Upul Tharanga in a flying start for Sri Lanka that saw the home side rattle along at 10 runs an over. He hit a six and 11 boundaries before being caught and bowled by Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain. "I am really enjoying my batting at the moment," Dilshan said. "In the first 10 overs, I try to attack, then settle down to play longer, unfortunately I got out today. I am really happy with the bowling, I enjoy bowling."

Dilshan was equally destructive with the ball as he claimed three wickets to derail Bangladesh's run chase and help dismiss them for 186. Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chanaka Welegedara took two apiece. "You never know what to expect of the Dambulla wicket, but the way Dilshan batted, there is no pressure on you," Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain who made 52, said. "Tharanga supported him well, and Mahela Jayawardene [43] got us the momentum back. Great to have this feel in the dressing room, especially from Zimbabwe, the way they were focused on winning, it has really rubbed onto us."

Al Hasan was disappointed with the defeat and felt Sri Lanka's breezy start with the bat was crucial to the outcome. "We didn't start ball, especially with the new ball," he said. "Dilshan played some magnificent shots, and took away the game from us. It is frustrating, we have played good cricket for the last 12 months, but suddenly in the last four games we haven't played to our potential. The wicket was good, there was no reason for not batting well."

Tamim Iqbal hit three fours off Nuwan Kulasekara in the first over, giving the visitors a flying start in reply. But Imrul Kayes (3) failed to emulate his partner and fell to Kulasekara in the third over. Junaid Siddique (38) joined the party and hit two fours in the sixth over and repeated the show in the next. But Muralitharan had the last laugh when he sent the batsman packing in the 14th over, thanks to a stunning catch by Kulasekara at deep square leg.

Iqbal smashed Murali for a big six two overs later to ease the pressure. The batsman brought 100 up for his side along with Mohammad Ashraful in the 19th over and completed his 14th ODI fifty in the next. However, Dilshan did not let the batsman enjoy his achievement and got him stumped in the same over. The bowler made further inroads when he dismissed Ashraful (nine) two overs later, and sent Mushfiqur Rahim (six) to the pavilion soon after.

Murali struck once again in the middle overs when he dismissed Shakib Al Hasan (20). Mahmudullah (nine) followed the procession and fell to Welegedara in the 36th over. Malinga ended Naeem Islam's (15) struggle in the next. Mashrafe Mortaza and Shafiul Islam both went cheaply, ending the visitors' hopes of a fightback.

* PA

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%20
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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

MATCH INFO

Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD

* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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Starfield
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Company%20Profile
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Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

More from Armen Sarkissian
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
Fitness problems in men's tennis

Andy Murray - hip

Novak Djokovic - elbow

Roger Federer - back

Stan Wawrinka - knee

Kei Nishikori - wrist

Marin Cilic - adductor

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

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Naga
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMeshal%20Al%20Jaser%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdwa%20Bader%2C%20Yazeed%20Almajyul%2C%20Khalid%20Bin%20Shaddad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

TICKETS

For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.

How will Gen Alpha invest?

Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.

“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.

Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.

He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.

Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”

Sunday's games

All times UAE:

Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace, 4pm

Manchester City v Arsenal, 6.15pm

Everton v Watford, 8.30pm

Chelsea v Manchester United, 8.30pm

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday

Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)

Valencia v Levante (midnight)

Saturday

Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)

Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)

Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)

Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)

Sunday

Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)

Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)

Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)


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