Feature
Indian women cricket team beats England by 35 runs in opening World Cup game
Derby: Combined efforts helped Indian women cricket team defeated England by 35 runs in the opening match of the ICC Women’s World Cup here on Saturday.
A splendid all-round performance helped India beat England by 35 runs in the opening match of the ICC Women’s cricket World Cup here on Saturday.
Mithali Raj’s India got the ICC Women’s World Cup off to a magnificent start as a splendid all-round performance from the team helped them beat hosts England by 35 runs in the tournament opener.
Chasing 282, England were bowled out for 246 in the 47.3 overs with Deepti Sharma and Shikha Pandey scalping three and two wickets each.
For England, middle-order batswoman Fran Wilson top scored with 81 runs off 75 balls and Heather Knight contributed 46 runs. Apart from them no other batswoman stepped up to the occasion.
Earlier, put in to bat, the Indian eves started off with openers Punam Raut (86) and Smriti Mandhana (90) putting up a 144-run stand in 27 overs. But just when the going seemed good, Mandhana was sent packing by off-spinner Heather Knight. Mandhana, who slammed 11 boundaries and two sixes, was caught at midwicket by Danielle Hazell.
An unperturbed Raut continued the attack with new batswoman and skipper Mithali Raj (71), and forged a 78-run partnership in 16 overs. But while trying to up the ante, Raut was caught at deep midwicket by Danielle Wyatt off Hazell. Raut’s 134 ball knock was laced with seven boundaries and one six.
With the scoreboard reading 222/2 in 42.3 overs, Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur (24 not out) played sensibly and added 59 runs to post a challenging total. Raj, however, was dismissed by Knight in the last ball of the final over.
For England, Knight scalped two wickets for 41 runs.
In the other match, New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by nine wickets in Bristol.
Sri Lanka posted 188/9 in their allotted 50 overs with Chamari Atapattu (53) scoring handsomely for the cause.
Chasing 189, Suzie Bates (106*) and Amy Satterthwaite (78*) produced some fine innings to overhaul the target in 38th over.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
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.