ROUND 6
Round Score = 825
Overall Ranking = 1 (lead by 96 points)
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 800"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]BATSMEN[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]C Lynn (46)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]D Bravo (99)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]M Klinger (12)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]K Pietersen (88)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]M Stoinis (83)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]WICKETKEEPER[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]J Peirson (67)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]BOWLERS[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]A Russell (110*2)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]L Wright (127)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]D Willey (14)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]S Watson (18)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]J Hastings (51)[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
With the Stars the only team having the DGR, I decided to go with the ‘not so obvious’ selection of Stoinis as my VC, he went to only score 10 points in the first game and so I was faced with another captain choice dilemma. The safe play would’ve been to keep the VC on him as he had another chance to add to his score. However, I decided to risk it again and went with my gut instinct in Russell as none of the top 2 ranked teams had him and that this was an opportunity for cut the deficit if my gamble came off. He duly saluted scoring 110 which put a big smile to my face and made watching the remaining games for the round very enjoyable as I was eagerly waiting for the release of the round results. My risk was handsomely rewarded as not only did I close the gap to the leaders, but ascended to the top of the overall ranking with a 96 points buffer. Had 4 of the top 10 scorers and all my POD players scored well.
Thought for the round: WOW…just WOW…It’s actually happening! Still a long way to go, so have to remain calm, make calculated decisions and buckle up for the remainder of the ride.
ROUND 7
Round Score = 827
Overall Ranking = 1 (lead by 213 points)
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 800"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]BATSMEN[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]C Lynn (1)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]M Klinger (44)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]J Kallis (33)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]C White (73)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]K Sangakkara (10)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]WICKETKEEPER[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]T Paine (137*2)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]BOWLERS[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]A Russell (68)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]D Bravo (119)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]D Christian (34)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]D Willey (93)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]S Watson (78)[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
If you thought my captain choice in the last round was risky good, my selection for this round would make it look very mundane indeed. The Hurricanes are the only team to have a DGR and the more obvious choices were the in-form Christian or the experienced international in Sangakkara. I went with Paine (I can’t really recall the reason why…maybe I wanted to stand out from the crowd?), it was certainly not due to his recent form as his last two outings returned scores of 14 & 0. At least with Russell last round, he had runs on the board. I was playing golf the day the Hurricanes played their first game, and I was checking in on his progress in between shots. I returned from the golf day relieved to see that Paine had scored 92 and anything in the second game was going to increase my overall lead, he ended with 137 for the round. Only had 3 of the top 10 scorers, but for the third round, I had the highest scorer as my captain.
Thought for the round: Now it’s getting very real…most 50/50 decisions and risks have gone my way…time to minimise risks and play the percentages from hereon.
ROUND 8
Round Score = 625
Overall Ranking = 1 (lead by 147 points)
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 800"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]BATSMEN[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]C Lynn (76)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]L Wright (38)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]K Pietersen (15)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]M Klinger (0)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]C White (6)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]WICKETKEEPER[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]P Handscomb (53)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]BOWLERS[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]A Russell (86)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]S Watson (98)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]M Stoinis (45)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]A Zampa (120)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]D Bravo (44*2)[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
I entered this round with a change of strategy and my trade plan was literally thrown out the window. For me, it was no longer about trading in the best available players or that POD or that ‘not so obvious’ captain selection. The game has changed and now it was all about doing everything I can to preserve as much of my lead for as long as possible. Much of my time was spent doing forensic analysis on teams still in contention, trying to predict their likely trades and then trading accordingly to eliminate as many of the POD players to my team as possible. The objective here was to limit their opportunity to make gain on my team by reducing the number of potential POD players against my team. This was an exhaustive and strenuous exercise, but something that had to be done in my position.
The Stars was the only team with the DGR, so again I went my Stoinis as my VC with the knowledge that I can wait to see what his final score will be before deciding whether to take it as I had both Bravo & White playing in the last game of the round. None of the popular Stars players scored well for the round with Stoinis only registering 45 points so decided to go with Bravo as my captain as I predicted most of the top teams would take this route as he was in all teams. Bravo only returned 44 points and only had 3 of the top 10 scorers, but that was not my aim going into this round. I lost 66 points of my buffer, mostly through captaincy score difference but still had a fair margin as we entered the finals.
Thought for the round: Operation ‘preserve lead at all cost’ was carried out to relative satisfaction. With only two rounds and 3 games left in the competition, trades and captain selections becomes even more crucial now.
ROUND 9 (SEMI FINALS)
Round Score = 622
Overall Ranking = 1 (lead by 153 points)
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 800"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]BATSMEN[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Russell (40*2)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Head (35)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Klinger (44)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Khawaja (124)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Neser (47)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]WICKETKEEPER[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Ludeman (14)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]BOWLERS[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Rashid (42)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Watson (59)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]McKay (60)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Stoinis (84)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Laughlin (33)[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
With the Semi Finals round came the unpredictable Melbourne weather. The forecast for the second SF at the MCG was 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms and there was a very real possibility that the game could be a ‘wash out’ or shortened. This was another variable which I didn’t need as I plan to assemble the 11 players to go into battle. My thoughts were that there were only 3 possible ways to tackle this ‘round of uncertainty’; select the best available 11 as per normal; select the best 11 from the first SF assuming that the second SF will be weather impacted; or hedge your bet by sacrificing your choice of players to ensure that all your bench players were playing. This was a very difficult decision for me as I knew that this was the pivotal round for those chasing to close the gap, hence the outcomes from this round will most likely determine the overall winner. I weighed up the pros & cons and in the end decided to select my team to ensure I have at least 11 potential scorers from the first SF, with the flexibility to trade in players from the second SF if it eventuates and my loophole hole players didn’t score well. My team faired pretty well considering the circumstances and had 5 of the top 10 scorers including the top 2. I was feeling a bit nervous waiting for the result as my ‘safe’ captain choice in Russell (40) was potentially up against Khawaja (124), Stoinis (84) & Pietersen (82).
Thought for the round: I went a lot better than expected and actually extended my lead, albeit by only 6 points…I guess all the top teams had a difficult time trying to navigate through this tricky SF round. I had hoped to have around 100 points going into the GF, and was absolutely stoke to have those extra bonus points.
ROUND 10 (GRAND FINAL)
Round Score = 561
Overall Ranking = 1 (won by 47 points)
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 800"]
<colgroup><col width="117" style="width: 88pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 4278;"> <col width="117" style="width: 88pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 4278;" span="5"> <tbody>[TR]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]BATSMEN[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Russell (62*2)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Khawaja (90)
[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]M Hussey (30)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Pietersen (106)[/TD]
[TD="width: 117, bgcolor: white"]Wright (23)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]WICKETKEEPER[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Handscomb (21)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"] [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"] [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"] [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]BOWLERS[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Watson (62)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]McKay (20)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Stoinis (73)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Hilfenhaus (0)[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: white"]Worrall (12)[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
D-day has arrived and to be honest, I was feeling very calm and content about the situation. I think those that had an interest in my fortune were actually more nervous than I was. All the hard work and planning in past rounds have gotten me to this position and there’s nothing more I could do for the final match. The equation was very simple for me, select the best possible 11 and select a safe captain choice and PRAY. I knew that teams can only be selected from a possible 22 players. Of those, I could confidently cross off 6 that would not be selected. That leaves 11 of a pool of 16, and with Handscomb being the more likely keeper over Hartley, that number is reduced to 10 from a possible 15. I was confident that up to 8 players would be in every teams, so that leaves really only 2-3 unique players and difference between captain selections as means for my lead to be pruned. I figured that the average scores for the better players ranged between 40-60 ppg, add in the captain score and I predicted that scores would be in the vicinity of 550 +/- 50 for the round. I was quietly confident that a score of 550 would give me a ‘high probably’ of maintaining my overall ranking.
The objective of the day was to have fun and enjoy the last phase of my journey. With that in mind, I decided to attend the game with fellow SCS moderator, Goodie’s Guns, as he’s a keen Stars supporter and was also in contention as part of the leading league. I was relatively content with how the first innings went, my captain in Russell was already on 52 so the potential deficit to Pietersen (106) was only 54. At the conclusion of the game, I was frantically doing the sums in my head and working out the potential combination of POD players which could’ve dismantle my team from the number 1 ranking. With both likely captain selections in Khawaja & Piertersen going huge, coupled with my under par players in Wright (23), Worrall (12) and Hilfenhaus (0)…there was a dreaded moment where I thought the worse has happened. I was trying to console myself to just accept the reality when Goodie’s Gun gave the news I had been hoping for…’You are still number 1 mate, Bloody ripper and a job well done; can’t believe this is your first time playing BBL fantasy, you’re an absolute freak!’ And with that, the grey clouds dissipated inside my head and an outpour of great excitement and sense of achievement was on display for all to see. Goodie’s Guns and I shared a rare moment of genuine happiness and joy, I was very thankful and grateful to have him by my side for the whole day.
Thought for the round: It’s such a wonderful feeling to have accomplished something which you have put so much work into planning and executing those plans. To have achieve this in my first attempt is nothing short of miraculous and gives me great confidence in my strategies, processes and planning these types of fantasy game. Operation ‘preserve my lead at all costs’ is now complete.
