Feature
England beat New Zealand to enter World T20 final
New Delhi:England produced a dominant performance to outclass New Zealand by seven wickets in their World Twenty20 semi-final at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium here on Wednesday evening.
Needing 154 runs to book their tickets for Sunday’s title clash, England overhauled the target in 17.1 overs.
Opener Jason Roy played a starring role with the bat for England, plundering 78 runs off 44 balls. The 25-year-old right-hander hit 11 boundaries and a couple of sixes during his innings.
England, who won the World T20 in 2010, are thus in line for their second title in the shortest format of the game.
In the final, they will meet the winner of the second semi-final between India and West Indies which will be played in Mumbai on Thursday.
New Zealand were the only unbeaten team in the group stage and were expected to put up a strong fight. But England were far superior with both bat and ball on a pitch which was not too easy to bat on.
The former winners were boosted by a quick opening partnership of 82 runs in 50 deliveries between Roy and Alex Hales (20). Hales departed when he mistimed a Mitchell Santner delivery into the hands of Colin Munro at long-on, but the early momentum kept England in good stead.
Leg-spinner Inderbir Singh Sodhi gave the Kiwi fans a glimmer of hope by sending back Roy and England captain Eoin Morgan off consecutive deliveries in the 13th over. But that did not prove to be enough to carry New Zealand through.
Jos Buttler brought up the winning runs and underlined England’s dominance in spectacular fashion by pulling a Santner delivery into the stands beyond the midwicket fence.
Sodhi registered figures of 4/42 in his four overs, while Santner (1/28) was the only other New Zealand bowler to claim a wicket.
Earlier, asked to bat first, New Zealand posted a competitive total of 153/8 in their 20 overs.
The Kiwis should have got a bigger total, but England did well to take wickets regularly in the latter half of the innings to restrict their opponents.
Munro put in a useful knock for New Zealand with the bat, scoring 46 runs off 32 balls with seven boundaries and a six.
Experienced pacer Ben Stokes was the most successful among the England bowlers with figures of 3/26. Talented left-arm pacer David Willey (1/17), Chris Jordan (1/24) and off-spinner Moeen Ali (1/10) got a wicket each.
Liam Plunkett endured severe punishment in his first spell, giving away 21 runs in just two overs, before finishing his four overs with figures of 1/38.
Willey handed England an early breakthrough as Martin Guptill lashed out at one that shaped away only to see the edge carry to Jos Buttler behind the stumps.
Munro and Kane Williamson proceeded to lay the foundation for a competitive total with a 74-run partnership in 50 balls.
Munro was in superb form, smashing the England bowlers to the ropes with monotonous regularity. He was especially harsh on Liam Plunkett, hitting the pacer for three consecutive boundaries in the sixth over.
Williamson perished through an easy caught and bowled effort by Ali after tossing a skier to mid-off. Plunkett had his revenge on Munro in his second spell when the Kiwi left-hander went after a delivery which was well outside off, only to slice it to Ali at third man.
That seemed to slow down the New Zealand run rate a bit. Ross Taylor did not last long, snapped up by Eoin Morgan off Chris Jordan’s bowling in the 17th over.
Anderson seemed to be in good knick, scoring 28 off 22 deliveries. But his dismissal in the 18th over ened Kiwi hopes of amassing a big total.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 153/7 (Colin Munro 46; Ben Stokes 3/26) vs England 159/3 in 17.1 overs (Jason Roy 78, Jos Buttler 32 n.o.; Inderbir Singh Sodhi 2/42).
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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