Feature
Women’s WT20: England register exciting win over Windies
Dharamsala:England defeated West Indies by one wicket in a well-fought women’s World Twenty20 Group B clash at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on Thursday evening.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, West Indies posted a total of 108/4 in their 20 overs. In reply, England lost wickets at regular intervals and the match saw some nail-biting drama in the late stages before the target was overhauled in the last ball.
West Indies were off to a poor start with opener Hayley Matthews dismissed by Katherine Brunt in the second over.
West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor and Shaquana Quintyne put together a 41-run partnership, by accurate bowling by England and some nice work in the field restricted the run rate.
Taylor, who was the highest scorer for the West Indies with 35 runs from 47 balls, was dismissed in the 11th over while trying to prop up the scoring rate. But Deandra Dottin and Quintyne scored at a decent clip to take their team past the 100-run mark.
Dottin scored 22 off 30 deliveries while Quintyne scored 29 off 28 deliveries.
Anya Shrubsole (1/11), Natalie Sciver (1/14), Jenny Gunn (1/15) and Katherine Brunt (1/26) bagged a wicket each for the West Indies.
England had a good start to their chase with Charlotte Edwards (30) and Tammy Beaumont (31) producing an opening partnership of 59 runs in 49 balls. The openers then departed in successive overs which triggered an England collapse of sorts.
Sciver, who remained unbeaten on 19 runs off 22 balls, was the only other England batsman who managed to reach double figures as the West Indies bowlers started to dominate.
With England needing eight runs off the last two overs, Dottin put the West Indies a strong with a an excellent 19th over in which she bagged two wickets, conceeding just one run.
Needing seven runs off the last over, England survived the fall of another wicket to somehow crawl over the line.
Afy Fletcher (3/12) and Quintyne (3/19) were the most successful among the West Indies bowlers.
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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