Feature
India eves register comfortable win over Pakistan in World Cup
London: Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht picked up a five-wicket haul as India eves defeated arch rivals Pakistan by 95 runs in a group match of the Women’s cricket World Cup at the County Ground in Derby on Sunday.
Electing to bat first, India produced 169/9. In reply, Pakistan were bundled out for 74 runs with Bisht doing most of the damage with figures of 5/18.
This was the third consecutive victory in this tournament for India. They had defeated hosts England by 35 runs in the opening match of their campaign before thrashing the West Indies by seven wickets.
Indian skipper Mithali Raj used her bowling changes well as the bowlers clinched breakthroughs at regular intervals. Bisht maitained a tight length which did not allow the Pakistan batters to open up their arms and score easily.
Medium-pacer Mansi Joshi also bowled economically, clinching two wickets while giving away just nine runs in her 6.1 overs.
Chasing a low-target of 170 runs, Pakistan failed to get going right from the start.
Ayesha Zafar was the first to go as she was trapped leg before by Bisht in the second over. Javeria Khan and Sidra Nawaz then departed in consecutive overs, with veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami and Bisht doing the honours.
When Bisht sent back Iram Javed in the seventh over, almost the entire Pakistan top order had returned to the pavilion with just 14 runs on the board.
Pakistan did not quite recover from those early blows and continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.
With the Indian bowlers maintaining a tight line on a slow pitch, the Pakistanis found it difficult to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Opener Nahida Khan was the only one in the Pakistan top order who showed some application and grit, battling her way to a patient 23 runs off 62 deliveries before being caught behind off Harmanpreet Kaur’s bowling.
Pakistan skipper Sana Mir also waged a heroic battle and was the highest scorer with 29 runs in an excruciatingly slow 73-ball innings.
The other Pakistanis failed to reach double figures as the Indians clinched a comfortable victory.
Earlier, India posted 169/9 after skipper Mithali decided to bat first after winning the toss.
Unlike in previous matches, the Indian batters gave a lacklustre performance which resulted in a low total.
The Indian eves started on a bad note as opener Smriti Mandhana (2) was sent back to the pavilion in the fourth over by Nashra Sandhu with just seven runs on the board.
But incoming batswoman Deepti Sharma (28) along with Punam Raut (47) stabilised the Indian innings. The duo forged a 76-run partnership for the second wicket before Raut was adjudged leg before off Diana Baig. Raut, in her 72-ball knock, slammed five boundaries.
New batswoman Mithali Raj (8) then arrived at the middle but failed to step up. After adding 19 runs with Deepti, Mithali was also dismissed by Sandhu in the 27th over.
Deepti, who seemed good at the crease, then felt the pressure at the other end and was sent packing in the same over by Sandhu.
With the scoreboard reading 94/4 in 27 overs, middle-order batswomen Harmanpreet Kaur (10) and Mona Meshram (6) also disappointed as they both fell prey to Sadia Yousuf inside three overs.
Lower-order players Sushma Verma (33) and Jhulan Goswami (14) tried to hold the innings together, but Sandhu wrapped up Goswami in the 47th over. Verma was also dismissed in the next over by Asmavia Iqbal.
Mansi Joshi (4 not out), Ekta Bisht (1), Poonam Yadav (6 not out) played as expected.
For Pakistan, Nashra Sandhu claimed four wickets and Sadia Yousuf two.
Brief scores: India 169/9 in 50 overs (Punam Raut 47, Deepti Sharma 28; Nashra Sandhu 4/26) vs Pakistan 74 in 38.1 overs (Nahida Khan 23, San Mir 29, Ekta Bisht 5/18, Mansi Joshi 2/9).
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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