Feature
AB, Kohli team up again to make mockery of big run chase
A clinical batting display from Royal Challengers Bangalore’s top three handed them a comfortable nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday. The win helped Bangalore climb to the fifth spot and keep their chances of making the playoffs alive in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Set a target of 184, Virat Kohli once again led from the front with an unbeaten 51-ball 75 sharing 71 and 115-run stands with Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers (59 not out) respectively to bat Knight Riders out of the game. Bangalore eventually crossed the line with eight balls to spare after Kolkata did well to post 183 for 5 on the back of half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir (51) and Manish Pandey (50).
Kohli, with the kind of form he has been in, gave you the impression of a magician who used his bat like a wand. But it wasn’t just one-way traffic from the Royal Challengers captain. Chris Gayle (49 off 31), determined to put his poor form behind, gave the visitors the perfect launchpad for a lift-off.
When Gayle eventually fell, trapped by Sunil Narine in the eighth over, Bangalore had 76 runs on the board. With de Villiers walking in, there was no respite for the bowlers. Fresh from an unbeaten 229-run stand that demolished Gujarat Lions, both Kohli and de Villiers continued from where they left off. The running between the wickets goes up a notch when these two are out there in the middle and today was no different. That, combined with timely boundaries meant Bangalore needed 49 in the last five overs.
Kohli, however, did give Kolkata a chance in the 11th over. Trying to cut a wide one from Shakib al Hasan, he hit it straight to Gambhir at backward point – only to be dropped. There was no returning from there for the hosts as Kohli cantered to his half-century off 37 balls and in the process, surpassed the 700-run mark in this edition in front of a crowd that turned the atmosphere to resemble that at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.
While in the field though, Kohli seemed to have injured split the webbing between his thumb and index finger on the left hand. After his match-winning knock and seeing his side through, he was chauffeured to a close by hospital in an ambulance to get it looked at.
Earlier, Kolkata lost Robin Uthappa (2) in the third over but recovered beautifully to cruise to 87 for 1 at the halfway mark. Gambhir and Pandey rebuilt for the hosts with some pleasing strokes though there was some uncertain running between the two; their collaboration fetched Knight Riders 76 runs in 8.1 overs. While the drives, flicks and cuts flew from both blades, what stood out in the partnership was their ability to pick the gaps. It wasn’t slam-bang cricket but a beautifully-constructed stand that was built carefully with singles and twos.
The track offered assistance for the spinners and the Royal Challengers tweakers made most of it and sucked the momentum out of Kolkata’s innings after a solid start. The brief slump, where the hosts slipped from 90 for 1 to 125 for 5, meant the onus was on Russell (39 not out off 19) and Shakib (18 off 11).
Russell’s blitz gave them the much-needed impetus at the end of the innings. However, it was sensible death bowling from Chris Jordan and Shane Watson that kept the Knight Riders under the 200-run mark. The plan from the pacer was pretty simple – force the duo to hit towards the longer boundary.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 183/5 in 20 overs (Gautam Gambhir 51, Manish Pandey 50, Andre Russell 39*; Sreenath Aravind 2-41) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 186/1 in 18.4 overs (Virat Kohli 75*, AB de Villiers 59*, Chris Gayle 49) by nine wickets.
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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