Feature
Afghanistan qualify for World T20
Nagpur:The Afghanistan cricket team came out with a commendable performance to defeat Test playing nation Zimbabwe by 59 runs at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Jamtha here on Saturday to qualify for the main event of the World Twenty20 which will begin on March 15.
Opting to bat, Afghanistan put up a challenging total of 186/6 in 20 overs with Mohammad Nabi top-scoring with 52. In reply, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 127 in 19.4 overs. The Asian team won all three of their qualifying matches against Zimbabwe, Scotland and Hong Kong to progress to the Super 10 stage of the tournament.
This will be the third time Afghanistan will play the main event of World T20 in six editions.
Afghanistan took off well with wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad (40) and Noor Ali Zadran (10) striking a 49-run partnership for the opening wicket. However, a good spell of bowling from Zimbabwe pacer Tinashe Panyangara (3/32) saw the South Asian team being reduced from 49 for no loss to 63/4.
That is when middle order batsmen Samiullah Shenwari (43) and Nabi struck an incredible 98-run fifth-wicket partnership off just 66 balls to not just rescue their team but also help them post a very strong total. A total of 25 extras, which included as many as 17 wides, also did not help Zimbabwe.
The African outfit never looked comfortable in their chase as they kept losing wickets right from the start. Almost all Zimbabwe batsmen got starts but unfortunately the highest score came from their No.10 Panyangara, who remained not out on 17.
Afghanistan will now take part in Group 1 of Super 10 which also includes defending champions Sri Lanka, South Africa, former winners the West Indies and England.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 186/6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Nabi 52, Samiullah Shenwari 43, Mohammad Shahzad 40; Tinashe Panyangara 3/32) beat Zimbabwe 127 in 19.4 overs (Rashid Khan 3/11, Hamid Hassan 2/11).
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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