Feature
England reach WT20 semis; Sri Lanka, South Africa eliminated
New Delhi:England eliminated Sri Lanka and South Africa with a 10-run win over the Asian team in the World Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Saturday.
With this win, England have six points from four Group 1 games, while the West Indies are also through to the semi-finals with three wins from as many matches.
Defending champions Sri Lanka and South Africa have two points each. They face each other on Monday here in their final group stage match that will bear no significance in the race to the semi-finals.
In the match, asked to bat, Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 37-ball 66-run blitzkrieg lifted England to 171 for four. England’s top-order batsmen Jason Roy (42) and Joe Root (25) shared a 61-run stand for the second wicket. But they were not able to score freely as England lost their third wicket for 88 runs in 12.5 overs.
But the partnership between Buttler and Eoin Morgan (22) gave them the spark they needed in the must-win game. Buttler scored his eighth T20I fifty. Buttler hit eight fours and two sixes as he and Morgan registered a 74-run stand in just 6.3 overs. Due to their mayhem, England collected 106 runs in the final 10 overs.
In reply, Sri Lanka lost four wickets inside three overs but captain Angelo Mathews (73 not out in 54 deliveries) and Chamara Kapugedera did a rescue act with a 80-run stand. Mathews nearly took his side near but he ran out of support as the islanders fell short by 10 runs.
Earlier, veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath trapped Alex Hales (0) in front of the wicket in the second over of the innings. But Jason Roy and Joe Root (25) handled the pressure exerted by Herath and leg-spinner Jefferey Vandersay. They mixed caution with aggression as England were 65/1 after 10 overs.
In the first ball of the 11th over bowled by Vandersay, Root was caught at deep midwicket by Lahiru Thirimanne, ending the 61-run second-wicket stand. The wicket dented England to a greater extent as the partnership was just looking threatening for Sri Lanka.
Vandersay struck again in the 13th over as he got a leg before wicket (LBW) decision against opening batsman Roy, who was guilty of playing the ball across the line. Roy scored 42 in 39 deliveries. His innings included three fours and two sixes.
Later, captain Morgan and Buttler played quickfire knocks, scoring the bulk of the runs against pacers Thisara Perera, Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka.
Buttler was especially harsh on Chameera, hitting the right-armer for two sixes and two fours in his final two overs. Shanaka conceded 15 runs in an over, as they undid the good work done by the spinners.
In reply, Sri Lanka crumbled from the beginning. Dinesh Chandimal (1), Tilakaratne Dilshan (2), Milinda Siriwardana (3) and Lahiru Thirimanne (3) lost their wickets inside the first three overs with the team’s total at 15.
Left-arm pacer David Willey accounted for Dilshan and Siriwardana, while Chris Jordan dismissed Chandimal, while Thirimanne ran himself out following a miscommunication with his captain Angelo Mathews.
However, Mathews and Kapugedera (30) gave them some hopes as they forged a 80-run stand for the fifth wicket. But after Kapugedera’s wicket — holed out at deep square-leg by Ben Stokes off pacer Liam Plunkett — the hope fizzled away.
Thereafter, Sri Lanka needed 77 from seven overs with five wickets in hand. Mathews continued his assault against spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid to keep the chase alive.
Later, all-rounder Thisara Perera scored an 11-ball 20 as Sri Lanka got nearer to the English total. However, his wicket in the 17th over left Sri Lanka with 35 runs to get from 3.2 overs.
Later, with 22 runs required off two overs, Jordan removed Chanaka (15 off 9) and Herath (1) as Sri Lanka required 15 off the final over. Pacer Stokes conceded just four runs, to facilitate the 10-run victory.
Brief scores: England: 171/4 (Jos Buttler not out 66, Jason Roy 42; Jefferey Vandersay 2/26, Rangana Herath 1/27) against Sri Lanka: 161/8 (Angelo Mathews not out 73; Chris Jordan 4/28, David Willey 2/26).
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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