Feature
West Indies beat Pakistan to cruise into U-19 World Cup semis
Dhaka: Skipper Shimron Hetmyer and Tevin Imlach hit half-centuries as the West Indies beat Pakistan by five wickets to cruise into the semi-finals of the under-19 cricket World Cup here on Monday.
Hetmyer smashed his way to 52 runs and Imlach scored 54 to ensure that a gallant 113 by Umaid Masood went in vain as the West Indies surpassed Pakistan’s fighting total of 227 for six with 10 overs to spare.
The West Indies will face host Bangladesh in the second semi-final in Mirpur on Thursday. India play Sri Lanka in the first semi-final at the same venue on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s defeat prevented an all-Asian semi-final despite Umaid’s man of the match-winning performance, but the West Indies played better all-round cricket to emerge deserved winners.
Umaid came to the crease in the 15th over with Pakistan struggling at 40 for four and rebuilt the innings in the company of Salman Fayyaz after half the side was back in the pavilion by the 21st over.
Enroute to his 113, Umaid hit 15 boundaries and two sixes before getting out in the final over.
Salman remained unbeaten on a defiant half-century, which included three hits to the fence and a six.
The partnership thus ensured Pakistan had a total which was defendable.
But the Caribbean flair was evident from the start as the West Indies raced to 100 for one by the 16th over.
Hetmyer and Imlach put on 77 for the second wicket to take the score to 122 for one, before two needless run outs saw the total slip to 147 for four.
Shamar Springer was the fifth batsman to fall for 37 when 38 runs were still needed for victory, but Jyd Goolie (26 not out) and Keemo Paul (24 not out) saw their side home.
“This is a wonderful result for us,” said Hetmyer. “It feels good to be through to the semi-finals.
“We just stuck to our plans and executed what we had worked on at practice. It was probably a good toss to lose because our bowlers did very well to take those early wickets.”
Pakistan’s captain Zeeshan Malik congratulated the West Indies, but felt his team should have defended the score.
“Our plan had been to get around 235 because we had the bowlers who were capable of defending it,” he said. “I thought we put up a good score despite the poor start.
“But I must give credit to the West Indies batsmen for playing so aggressively and chasing down the target.”
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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