Story The HRV Cup: The Knights' Quest ***WF victors in close game with OV***

[AkshayS]

This is by far the sexiest story on PC mate. Cricket 04 is the dogs bollocks when it comes to gameplay and shot selection. Makes it seem so realistic.

I also agree with Treva.
This is the best story till now.
Loved the presentation and everything is perfect.

 

[hedger_14]

Very good story. Although I preferred your Test Championship story much more. Hopefully you continue to update this and it will turn into a great story for sure.

KUTGW

 

[riz7khan12]

another great update, i dont think the knights can win from now on unless willamson bats the whole innings.

 

[CG123]

I actually think the match is very evenly poised.
The Knights still have four more than capable batsmen still to come, meaning if Williamson is there for another few over's they could well be on top with wickets in hand.
Also another thing in their favour is that Patel bowled out both his openers in the first eight over's, so the Knights could target the likes of Ryder etc. at the death.

 

[just_cricket]

HRV Cup
Round 1, Game 1
Wellington Firebirds v Northern Knights
Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve​

: Welcome back to the Basin Reserve, where the Northern Knights are 78/2 in pursuit of the 177 runs set by the Wellington Firebirds. In this first match of the tournament, both sides are mindful of the importance of taking some early momentum by winning this game. So, the heat is on - the Northern Knights require 100 runs from 10 overs to win the game. Play ball!

5 Over Update​

Over 11:
Kane Williamson looked as though he was indeed mindful of the run rate required - he hit Patel over the top of mid wicket first ball for four. A couple of singles followed, then again Williamson went big, this time slog sweeping for six. With 12 runs from 4 balls, the Knights had made a brilliant start to the final 10 overs. But Patel managed to undo all the good work with one ball - it wasn't great bowling, just a quickish straight ball. But Williamson somehow managed to play all around it and was trapped lbw. It was probably the first time he'd played and missed all innings, but unfortunately it was a critical one he missed.
As expected, BJ Watling dropped down the order and Peter McGlashan was promoted to number 5. He got underway straight away, with a paddle sweep for 1. 91/3

Williamson's wicket was huge for the Wellington Firebirds​

Over 12:
James Franklin took the ball again, although his battle with Williamson would obviously not continue. However he was still effective, and despite McGlashan's attempts to break the game open with some innovative shots, only singles were scored. Marshall looked content with these ones, clearly deciding to get a feel for the ball for an over or two before hopefully unleashing. But as it was, only 4 runs came from the over, pushing the required rate up to 10.25. 95/3

McGlashan got inventive, but it didn't work for him, as Franklin's over yielded only 4 runs​

Over 13:
Jeetan Patel continued, for what would turn out to be the most successful over of the match thus far. First he tempted McGlashan to come down the wicket but beat him in flight. The Knights' keeper-batsman tried to go through with the shot but ended up just skying to Neal Parlane at mid on:

Patel showed the worth of a true spinner in T20, flighting the ball beautifully to dimiss a key batsman in McGlashan​

Anton Devcich was the new man, as Watling was pushed down to number 7 in the batting order. He managed to get off the mark straight away with a quick single down to mid on, but then disaster struck for the Knights as they lost their captain. In a mad moment, Marshall danced down the track and was beaten in flight, and succumbed in almost identical fashion to McGlashan. Parlane took another catch, as the Knights plunged deeper into trouble. 100/5

Deja vu anyone?​

Over 14:
It was James Franklin again, returning to the bowling crease for his third over. He and Patel had bowled very well in tandem for four overs, so it was a no brainer to keep them going for as long as possible. Once again he bowled exceptionally. With Chris Nevin up to the sticks, Watling and Devcich were crease bound and could barely hit the ball off the square. Consequently, the required run rate rose to 12 an over, as just 5 runs came off Franklin this time. 105/5

Over 15:
Patel continued to show his craftiness, as his final over seemed to all but shut the Knights out of the game. After frustrating Devcich with three flat dot balls, the Firebirds' captain tossed the bowl up for the fourth delivery, and once again beat a batsman in flight. This time Nevin sharply removed the bails and Devcich was caught well short of his ground. The Knights' last hope now was for Watling and Vettori to achieve something special - and perhaps they could! Watling gave a glimmer of hope by hitting two fours from the last two balls, both over cover, but the required rate was still climbing.

Devcich was out-thought by Jeetan Patel, and paid the price for rash batting with his wicket​

Score after 15 Overs
Northern Knights 116/6
Watling 11*
Vettori 1*
Patel 4-0-38-4

The Northern Knights require 62 runs from 30 balls

 

[Aditya]

Quite tough now for Northern Knights to win. 62 of 30 and just 4 wickets left but who cares? Vettori is still there and he is enough.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I agree with Aditya... Vettori is there.. He will guide his team to victory!!

 

[MaD]

That's like the sexiest Hawk-ye i've ever seen on PC, awesome job with the graphics
Highest of standards
btw, just need a little help, how do you do the updates? Are you actually playing the game and then writing down as you go and also can you save your game whenever you want? I'm not sure what to do for my story coz I can't save my game (C07) when I want, which means I have to write an update for a whole innings, do you do the write up first and then post them later on?

 

[AkshayS]

Brilliant update man, really loved it.

Tough task for Northern knights.

 

[just_cricket]

@ MaD: I actually have played the whole game, plus quite a few more. What I do is get a little notepad and take notes on what happens each over, while taking screenshots on my computer. When I've finished a game, I go in and make my graphics, and then write a Planetcricket update by previewing the post, and then saving it. That way I've got half the story mapped out and ready to post by now.

Hope you understand what I meant, and it was what you wanted to know.

 

[just_cricket]

HRV Cup
Round 1, Game 1
Wellington Firebirds v Northern Knights
Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve​

: Welcome back to the Basin Reserve where the Knights are doing it really tough against the Wellington Firebirds. They require 62 runs from 5 overs, a really tough ask, and if they have any hope at all, it lies with BJ Watling and Daniel Vettori, who are at the crease now...

5 Over Update​

Over 16:
James Franklin continued for his fourth over on the trot. Vettori, being Vettori, stepped across to the off side and squirted a single through square leg. However BJ Watling showed more regulation strokeplay, and implemented it with far greater effect. First he pull a short of a length ball from Franklin into the crowd for six, a magnificent shot off the front foot. He also managed to follow that up with a slash over cover point for four more, and eventually another single into the leg side. The Knights could almost be believing as 12 runs came off the over. 128/6

Watling's unexpected outburst gave the Knights some hope, but the 12 runs from the over was still behind the required rate!​

Over 17:
Paul Hitchcock grabbed the ball from his captain and began to think about his role as a death bowler. He needn't have bothered - whatever thinking he did turned out to be completely wrong, or at least badly executed. In a succession of charges down the wicket and shots over extra cover, BJ Watling single handedly took 16 runs from the over, meaning the Knights would need 34 from the remaining three. 144/6

The keeper was up to the stumps, but that didn't bother Watling as he charged around the pitch and the ball inside out​

Over 18:
Jesse Ryder came to the fore, with the job of ending the Knights' sudden spurt of runs. With 34 runs needed of three overs, Ryder's job wouldn't normally be too tough but Watling was "smoking them like a good'un" and the experience of Vettori was a real cause for worry. After Vettori took a single, Ryder struck though. It was a real warm up ball from Ryder, Watling looked to swing it over the leg side, but like so many other batsmen from his team, he holed out in the deep, even after hitting the ball so cleanly.

The fall of BJ Watling after an incredible 43 from just 15 balls meant the burden fell on Vettori's shoulders to pull off something amazing​

Unfortunately for the Knights, Graeme Aldridge didn't help their cause by failing to get bat on ball for the next three balls. By the time he nudged a single to bring Vettori on strike, there was so much pressure on the veteran to score an unlikely 32 runs from 13 balls, and he couldn't respond, falling lbw to Ryder, to all but seal Northern's fate. Vettori wasn't best pleased with the decision but Hawkeye confirmed the umpire's decision:

Ryder's straight, sharp bowling crushed the Knights' chances with a single ball​

Over 19:
With the game more or less in the bag, Jeetan Patel decided to try and give Hitchcock some confidence by giving him a run at the Knights' tailenders. But Patel would've been cursing as the Knights gave themselves just a glimmer of hope once more. After Scott and Aldridge scampered two singles, Aldridge went big and deposited Hitchcock over cow corner for six. This was a huge blow, and although only one further run came from the over, the Knights weren't totally out of it - although 19 runs from 6 balls would take some getting.

Over 20:
Ryder demanded the ball from Patel to bowl the final over, but would've been biting his fingernails after Aldridge again slogged a six over cow corner! This amazing shot meant that they now needed 13 from 5. Could they do it?

Unfortunately Aldridge rather spoilt things by running himself out. After hitting the ball straight to cover, he sold his partner Bradley Scott down the river by calling for a run. However, the throw came to Aldridge's end and in the end it was he who was run out by yards:

It was all too good to be true in the end - after a couple of useful slogs Aldridge just couldn't remain calm ​

The rest, as they say, was a formality. Bradley Scott managed to scamper a leg bye but poor old Brent Arnel was bowled neck and crop by a yorker from Ryder. Ryder flung his arms in the air in glee as the final wicket fell, and tried to adopt Flintoff's, down on one knee pose. Of course he failed miserably and ended up looking like a complete idiot , but he had still kept his nerve at the death and his team, after coming dead last last year, looked on the way up...

Arnel was embarassingly bowled to finish the match

:So concludes the first match of the second season of the HRV Cup! What a game it was, full of excitement from the first ball to the last ball. What a rollercoaster ride it has been.
Now it is time for our viewers to have their say in this great competition. Choose your man of the match to be in to win a great voucher from Mitre 10, to the value of $100,000 Planetcricket dollars!

Select your Man of the Match from the following players:

a) Cameron Merchant

b) Jeetan Patel

c) BJ Watling

d) Jesse Ryder

Vote by selecting your player from the poll. The player who gets the most votes will take out the Man of the Match award, and one lucky user will be drawn from those who voted for him!

 

[CG123]

A good fight by Northern, but in the end they were just demanding too much from their middle-lower order.
T20's a batsman's game, so my man of the match has to be a) Cameron Merchant.
He took the game away for Northern with his early run burst, and set up the Firebirds for a good total, and in the end the win.
Again great work with all the graphics etc, truly amazing stuff.

 

[Aditya]

Good Match,Northern played well but they needed their middle order to click but just one batsman from their middle order clicked and that was BJ Watling. Hopefully they will win their next match. Man of the match should be Cameron Merchant.

 

[Gaurav_7]

I'm going for Jeetan Patel as the MOM. It's a batsman's game and taking 4 wickets needs something. Amazing work with the screens and the hawkeye. Haven't read this update but will surely do when I'm reading in the reading zone.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Jeetan Patel For Sure!!