GCF World Trophy V | IC thread

by **Crpostran** » Mon Mar 17, 2025 7:52 am

SCORECARD

Yuugria Batting
Batter                                        R    B     4s   6s   SR
An-Alsan             c Desiderio b Donato     98   123   9    4   79.67
Yuli                 c & b Utz                79   54    10   1   146.30
Felsun               not out                  80   83    12   2   96.39
Idrid                not out                  33   41    3    1   80.49
Harza                                          
Fansollak                                       
Zunna                                           
Sarfwan                                         
Kalafid                                         
H. Zadari                                       
Z. Zadari                                       
EXTRAS (4 b, 7 lb, 3 wd, 1 nb)               15
TOTAL for 2 wickets                          305  (50 ov; 6.1 RPO)

Crpostran Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M    R    W    Econ   Ext
Donato               10   0    56   1    5.6    -  
Kalyan               10   0    67   0    6.7    -  
Valère               10   0    60   0    6.0    (1 wd, 1 nb)
Utz                  10   0    58   1    5.8    -  
Barclay              5    0    31   0    6.2    (2 wd)
Arnold               5    0    33   0    6.6    -

Crpostran Batting (Target: 306)
Batter                                          R    B     4s   6s   SR
Eugénie              b H. Zadari                50   44    4    1   113.64
Kaysen               c Kalafid b Z. Zadari      47   27    3    3   174.07
Earnest              st An-Aslan b Z. Zadari    29   45    3    1   64.44
Lucas                c Zunna b Sarfwan          4    21    0    0   19.05
Desiderio            b Z. Zadari                0    13    0    0   0.00
Arnold               lbw Sarfwan                13   38    0    1   34.21
Barclay              not out                    47   33    3    4   142.42
Utz                  not out                    39   79    5    0   49.37
Valère                                      
Kalyan                                     
Donato                                      

EXTRAS (1 b, 3 lb, 1 wd)                        5
TOTAL for 6 wickets                             234  (50 ov; 4.68 RPO)

Yuugria Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M    R    W    Econ   Ext
Z. Zadari            10   2    75   3    7.5    (1 wd)
H. Zadari            10   2    46   1    4.6    -  
Kalafid              10   1    37   0    3.7    -  
Sarfwan              10   1    47   2    4.7    -  
Zunna                10   1    29   0    2.9    -

by **Kimi-Suomi** » Mon Mar 17, 2025 5:12 pm

Kriketti. Urheilu, joka on niin vieras, mutta samalla niin tuttu. It is a sport that Kimi-Suomi should never really be good at, due to the dominance of pesäpallo in our corner of Anaia, but ever since the Karhut came to play, we have actually been pretty decent at this whole white-ball game. Being ranked #14 in the List A format isn't too shabby at all. But entering this World Trophy, Lorcán Ua Tuathail and Anna Välikangas were hoping for more - a sign that whatever we were doing is actually working. So entering this new competition, let's see where the cookie crumbles!

Up first was the host of this Pool of the tournament, #19 Kytlerin Niemimaa - The Kytler Peninsulae. Facing the co-hosts on the opening day certainly wasn't some you wanted to do to start a tournament but fuck it, we ball, we won the toss and so we batted first. The 50-over game is one that is built on knowing when and where to strike - when to duck, when to get a single, when to aim for the boundary. All 300 balls, give or take, have to be studied and executed as perfectly as possible...and in these innings, we hoped to have done that to our best abilities. Alina Järnefelt ended up being the MVP of this effort, grabbing 104 on her own while Jukka Paarma got 57, and while Luuk Bosch grabbed 2-65, we still managed to put up a competitive score in 244/5.

245 would be what the hosts had to chase down, or 4.9 runs per over, and they certainly did come close as Joshua Walton got 123 all by himself, but to the ire of the home fans, they would run out of an important resource in this game: wickets. One by one, they would fall down until 48.5, 7 runs behind, and Lina Lehtovaara grabbed her fifth. Kimi-Suomi silenced the home crowd to win by 7 wickets. What a way to start a tournament.

One down, five to go. Up next? Vaishnavarinen in our new home, Florley Garden City. NOSTA KUIN KARHUT!

SCHEDULE/AJOITTAA (KYTLERIAN POOL, Kytlerin Niemimaa [The Kytler Peninsulae])
MD1: vs Kytlerin Niemimaa [The Kytler Peninsulae] (19) - Iain Lexington Bowl, Carroll Lewiston W by 7 runs/Voita 7 juoksulla (5th)
MD2: vs Vaishnavarinen [Vaishnavaria] (UR) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City
MD3: vs Crpostran (UR) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City
MD4: vs Itäkentän Lodge [Eastfield Lodge] (12) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City
MD5: vs Etelä Uusimaainen [South Newlandia] (20) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City
MD6: vs Sylestone (2) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City

by **Sylestone** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 1:27 am

Eastfield Lodge Batting
Batter                                                   R   B  4s  6s   SR
Player 1           c Hall b McMillan                    15  34   1   0   44.12
Player 2           c Tiati (+) b Scron                   2   7   0   0   28.57
Player 3 (c)       c Tiati (+) b Hall                   49  67   6   0   73.13
Player 4           c Freehill b Hall                    88  98   6   2   89.8
Player 5           lbw b Hall                           23  35   1   0   65.71
Player 6           run out (Afosha, Tiati (+))           2   4   0   0   50
Player 7 (+)       not out                              41  32   2   3  128.13
Player 8           b Scron                              15  13   2   0  115.38
Player 9           c Eastwood b Scron                    0   2   0   0    
Player 10          b Cross                               7   8   0   0   87.5
Player 11          not out                               1   1   0   0  100
       EXTRAS      (1 b, 6 lb, 6 wd, 1 nb)              14
       TOTAL       for 9 wickets                       257   (50 ov; 5.14 RPO)
                 

FOW: 1-4 (Player 2, 2.5 overs); 2-33 (Player 1, 9.3 overs); 3-106 (Player 3, 24.2 overs); 
     4-175 (Player 5, 37.2 overs); 5-178 (Player 6, 38.3 overs); 6-190 (Player 4, 41.4 overs); 
     7-230 (Player 8, 46.3 overs); 8-230 (Player 9, 46.5 overs); 9-253 (Player 10, 49.4 overs)

Sylestone Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
S Scron               10   2  50  3      5  (1 wd)
C Freehill             2   0   6  0      3  
J McMillan             8   1  36  1    4.5  (1 wd, 1 nb)
B Hall                10   0  42  3    4.2  
S Asaskia              7   1  32  0   4.57  
K Sonnel               8   0  47  0   5.88  (1 wd)
S Cross                5   0  37  1    7.4  (3 wd)

Sylestone Batting   (Target: 258)
Batter                                                   R   B  4s  6s   SR
L Tiati (c) (+)    lbw b Player 5                       33  37   4   0   89.19
C Freehill         c Player 5 b Player 9                 7   7   1   0  100
B Eastwood         b Player 11                          51  84   2   0   60.71
L Cocrine          c Player 7 (+) b Player 8            10  11   1   0   90.91
S Cross            run out (Player 4, Player 7 (+))     64  69   5   1   92.75
L Afosha           c&b Player 11                         1   6   0   0   16.67
S Asaskia          c Player 9 b Player 5                11  15   1   0   73.33
J McMillan         c Player 7 (+) b Player 10           25  35   3   0   71.43
B Hall             lbw b Player 11                      12  16   1   0   75
S Scron            not out                               9   9   0   1  100
K Sonnel           b Player 10                           0   2   0   0    
       EXTRAS      (2 b, 2 lb, 7 wd)                    11
       TOTAL       all out                             234   (48.3 ov; 4.82 RPO)
                 

FOW: 1-10 (C Freehill, 1.5 overs); 2-65 (L Tiati (c) (+), 14.2 overs); 3-80 (L Cocrine, 17.2 overs); 
     4-134 (B Eastwood, 27.6 overs); 5-142 (L Afosha, 29.5 overs); 6-159 (S Asaskia , 34.1 overs); 
     7-200 (S Cross, 41.3 overs); 8-223 (B Hall, 45.5 overs); 9-234 (J McMillan, 48.1 overs); 
     10-234 (K Sonnel, 48.3 overs)

Eastfield Lodge Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
Player 11             10   2  37  3    3.7  (2 wd)
Player 9               9   1  54  1      6  (1 wd)
Player 10            9.3   0  55  2   5.79  (2 wd)
Player 5              10   1  41  1    4.1  
Player 8              10   1  43  2    4.3  (2 wd)

Venue: Bayview Oval, Macados, The Kytler Peninsulae
Match number: Match 3
Toss: Sylestone won the toss and elected to bowl
Season/Tournament: GCF ODI World Trophy V
Matchdays: Matchday One
Player of the Match: Player 4 (EFL)
Debut: 
Umpires: Unknown
TV Umpire: Unknown
Reserve Umpire: Unknown
Match Referee: Unknown
Match Result: Eastfield Lodge win by 23 runs

Playing XI vs Yuugria @ Snowflake City Oval, Zube, The Kytler Peninsulae

1. Luke Tiati (c) (+)
2. Caitlyn Freehill
3. Brianna Eastwood
4. Lachlan Cocrine
5. Samuel Cross
6. Liam Afosha
7. Samuel Asaskia
8. Jesse McMillan
9. Broughton Hall
10. Samuel Scron
11. Kate Sonnel

by **Vielfaltig** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 4:13 am

Context

D-Day approaches for Schuttmann, Kaunus Election Preview

The day the state of Kaunus heads to polls to elect their next Legislative Assembly inches closer day by day. With just a few days to go for this critical election in the political future of this nation, leaders are bracing to make that final push required to achieve victory. The electoral reforms having been adopted by the Unterhaus a month ago meant that the electoral system heading into the elections would be revamped too. This meant that the Legislative Assembly was expanded to 475 members with 356 being elected directly by constituencies and the rest serving as balancing seats as in a mixed member proportional system. A threshold of three percent of the total vote will be enforced to ensure that extremist groups or groups with minimal representation do not gain power in the Assembly. This threshold can be overridden if a party wins three direct constituency seats entitling them to complete representation. In case of overhang seats, the Legislative Assembly will be expanded to ensure proportionality while guaranteeing the right of constituencies to elect their members to Parliament. This could effectively see the Kaunus Legislative Assembly grow larger than the designated 475 seats.

The KVP stands to gain or lose the most from this election with Schuttmann having made the gamble of triggering early elections. The backdrop of the corruption scandal has mostly been dealt with and the party is bouncing back in terms of popularity. The people are largely aware that the only force that can compete with the ULA is the KVP. The KVP's failed alliance with the Liberals meant that the KVP remained the only hope of the right to maintain their influence over Kaunus. Strategic voting had been a tool used by the Vielfaltigian people before and a similar occurrence could be observed in the upcoming elections with Liberal voters looking to vote for the KVP if it meant keeping the ULA out of power. This was also Zoe Schuttmann's chance to strengthen her grip over the state and exert her control. The KVP's ambitions were significantly hampered by the adoption of the Electoral Reform though as their hopes of an absolute majority almost definitely vanished. The outcome would almost definitely be either a plurality for them or the ULA meaning there would need to be significant post-election coalition building. The MMP system has also seen the Liberals recovering in the polls at the expense of the KVP which could see the Liberals make a strong comeback ahead of the elections through the proportional system even if they do not secure many constituencies. The KVP leadership has stressed on strategic voting as they appealed to Liberal supporters to vote for the KVP in the constituency races as that is the only way to keep the ULA out of power.

The ULA led by Ludovic Wehner took a slightly different approach ahead of the elections. Their polling numbers had improved in the last few weeks and they were looking to capitalise on these gains. The electoral reform quashed their hopes of a majority government like it did the KVP's however there was still hope. The ULA could potentially see themselves form a government with the Greens if both parties were able to secure enough seats. This is despite the fact that the ULA faces the strongest opposition from the Greens as the only remaining leftist political organisation after the formation of the ULA. The Greens will be looking to ideally hold a lead over the Liberals which will also be critical in ensuring that the ULA-Greens coalition becomes a reality. Due to how close the election is, one cannot count out the impact of small parties such as the Julioists and the Justice Party. While both parties are either polling dangerously close to the 3 percent threshold or lower, they could shift the scales massively if they secure enough seats. The Justice Party initially allied with the Liberals however chose to run independently owing to seat sharing disputes in the constituency races. The Justice Party will be hoping they get beyond the threshold and if they could succeed it could see important contributions to any Liberal governing majority. The Julioists on the other hand are far more difficult to work with especially due to their extreme isolationist and anti-immigration stances. If brought to see reason, they could ally with the ULA due to similar economic policy platforms however this remains a pipe dream and would most probably not manifest itself in reality.

We predict political chaos for Kaunus. This election is a representation of the growing schism in nationwide politics between the old order rooted in the Tukarist school of communism and workers' rights contrasted with the emergence of the new beliefs of globalism and integration into global markets and the global economy. The election in Kaunus is the first political event exemplifying this schism however the effect of it in the future is undoubtable.

by **Grand Exultia** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 4:13 am

MD 1 The Graham Bellamy Show, Mogendorf

Vielfaltig Innings
Batter				        R   	B	4s	6s   	SR
R Hafner (+) 	Run Out G Brimstone	107	119	9 	2	89.91
C Gonzalez	lbw E Blackcairn 	3	6 	0	0	50
M Baumann	b D Vortexhelm	        45 	51	4	1	88.23
G Bellamy (C)	c A Deinomache b B Hulidi	0	3	0 	0	0
C Wilmer	c A Deinomache b C Darkfell	9	8	0	0	112.50
F Masi		Not Out 	        43	64	4	0	67.18
F Fierro	Run Out S Nightwhisper	1 	5   	0   	0   	20 
J Schottmer	c + b C Darkfell	11   	10   	1   	0	110
R Trapani	b D Larkspur	        6   	10   	0	0       60
K Stringer	c + b E Blackcairn	0	8   	0	0	0
P Anderson	Run Out A Deinomache	1 	2   	0	0   	50

       EXTRAS	(1 wd)               
       TOTAL	227   (47.4 ov; 4.79 RPO)
                 
Grand Exultia Bowling
Bowlers	        Ov   	M	R	W	Econ 
E Blackcairn	10	0	47 	2 	4.70
A Hawkhelm	6	0	30 	0	5.00 
B Hulidi	6	0	31  	1	5.16
C Darkfell	7	0	33 	2	4.71
D Vortexhelm	6	0 	25	1	4.16
D Larkspur	5	0  	23 	1   	4.60             
K Celaeno	7.4	0  	38 	0   	4.95                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 
Grand Exultia Innings
Batter		                        R   	B  	4s  	6s   	SR
B Waldon (+)	Not Out	                84	85	8	2	98.82
A Deinomache 	c F Masi b P Anderson	2	2   	0	0	100
G Brimstone	b F Masi	        67 	65 	7 	0	103.07
D Larkspur (C)	Run Out J Schottmer	24 	20	1 	1	120
K Celaeno	b R Trapani	        30	31	0  	2  	96.77
S Nightwhisper	c R Trapani b C Wilmer	21	20   	0  	0	105
C Darkfell	c R Trapani b C Wilmer	0	3   	0   	0	0
D Vortexhelm	c M Baumann b J Schottmer	0  	3	0   	0	0
B Hulidi	Not Out	                0	5   	0  	0	0
A Hawkhelm	Did not bat	        0 	0   	0  	0   	0
E Blackcairn	Did not bat	        0 	0   	0   	0   	0
       EXTRAS      (1 lb)            
       TOTAL       229/7   (39 ov; 5.87 RPO)
                 


Vielfaltig Bowling
Bowlers	        Ov   	M	R	W	Econ 
K Stringer	8	0	45	0   	5.62
P Anderson	6	0	37 	1	6.16
J Schottmer	8	0 	50	2	6.25
R Trapani	7	0	43	1	6.14  
F Masi	        5	0	28	1	5.60                                  
C Wilmer	5	0	25	2	5.00

Umpire review with Syreswain Quickfinger
As part of a new initiative from the national cricket board I, Syreswain Quickfinger, will be providing an insight into the decisions made by the umpires today and delving into the laws of the game to explain some of the lesser-known rules and the more contentious issues.

It was a great game today for the Exultious team and a well earned victory sees us on the front foot early and a positive style of play backed up with the win should make for some thrilling encounters to come.

Obviously we have to look at the first major decision which was the somewhat contentious dismissal of the Vielfaltig captain Bellamy, now at first glance there’s a lot of noise and you can see a clear deviation of the ball so no wonder Hulidi went up as loud as they did and at full speed I would be giving Bellamy out as well but I have the benefit of video replay and oh boy they won’t be happy with that. Hulidi has found a lovely foot mark just outside leg and the ball has ragged but that’s not the bat it comes off, if we roll it back and forward here you can clearly see the bat caught behind the pad and the ball has flicked off the top of Bellamy’s front pad and fallen into the hands of Aete. Another good case for video referrals to be applied to the game but we don’t appear to have the technology, or want to use it, here which I’m sure the hosts will be regretting somewhat.

Aete at the heart of another controversy but this time it’s more of a moral or ethical quandary, 9 wickets down and less than 3 overs to go and for some reason Anderson has looked to pinch a run to the slips, must have miscounted as Masi would have known there was no need to turn the strike over that quickly hence they send them back. The controversy, as far as the host fans are clamouring for, is the slip just….here from Anderson, Aete sees the flailing Anderson and calmly throws to Kydoime at the stumps who whips off the bails. Now is this in the spirit of the game? It’s far too early for any conclusions so you could argue the Exultious players protecting their chance but also, how many runs could the Veiled Knights add with so few balls remaining, I’ll leave that one up to you at home as there’s nothing in the rules to say they were wrong.

At least the umpiring was consistent and you can argue the Exultians were on the receiving end of a less than splendid performance as well. You would expect with the advantage of the third umpire for the run out that you can’t get the decision wrong but I can tell you they did. Dronwick making good haste with the score and building a large partnership with Bertelis only for it to be cruelly ripped away with an outrageous decision, a good bit of fielding from Schottmer turned the simple two into a bit of a rush requiring a lunge from Dronwick at the end and you can see here the ball enters the frame and Dronwick is short, bat is grounded and sliding and yes the ball has hit the stumps here but notice how the bails are still in the grooves aaaaaaaaannnndddd here they are now dislodged with Dronwicks bat clearly beyond the line in the crease. A simple decision really and an easy law to understand yet the umpires have had a howler, all three of them.

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 6:56 am

OOC: Thanks go to Plough for helping with the scoring of this contest, much appreciated

The end of an era had arrived for the Bowlin' Jags of TJUN-ia. No matter what happens here in Veilfaltig, many of the OGs that have made up this team since our international debut will be bowing out once this World Trophy has been won (by someone). That was the emotional reality that Virat Indushapa had to face up to entering this tournament and he knew the pressure was on to let these men go out on a high for one of the few TJUN-ian teams still not open gender as it stands. The future shall arrive in due course but for now, the mission was simple: let them go out on a high. No matter what.

The Plough Islands, ODI #1 in the GCF, would be our first matchup at The Quanta Stadium in Montebello City and they would both win the toss and opt to bowl first. We hoped that the conditions would allow us to get a good score on the board but having only 34/0 after 10 overs doesn't exactly inspire confidence in your run-scoring opportunities. Jason Walkins managed 40 in this contest, perfect for tests but not so for ODI, and that ended up being the highest individual score of our innings. Dimitry Vladimirovich Andreyev was a scourge for us, getting 4-53 in a campaign that seemed to be going one way. We knew that when we finished on 171/9, we were fucked - simple as that - and the only question at that point was how ling we hold hold on for. Denying Shauna L.C. Weaver her half-century was solemn consolation for Ntini and while Ahmed Ali managed 4-50 in his term, Peter Hodgeson still got to 70 and that would end up being the deciding term. They made it 8 wickets down, but with 15.1 overs to spare - a hammering blow to kick off our campaign.

We hope for better against co-hosts Vielfaltig next time. We hope and pray for better at this point. GO BOWLIN' JAGS!

SCHEDULE (VIELFALTIGIAN POOL, Vielfaltig)
MD1: vs The Plough Islands (1) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City L by 2 wickets (10th)
MD2: vs Vielfaltig (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD3: vs The Golden Harp (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD4: vs Liventia (7) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD5: vs Grand Exultia (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD6: vs Baggieland (10) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City

by **The Plough Islands** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 9:45 am

on the 16th March 2025, the Plough Islands Gazette wrote:
WORLD TROPHY: HODGESON 70* HELPS FOXES OVERCOME JAGUARS ON TREACHEROUS GROUND
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, in Montebello

Four hundred and sixty two days since the Plough Islands last played One Day International cricket, since Dimitry Andreyev's front foot drive sped away to the boundary in Orean and sealed the Foxes' second World Trophy title, they were made to fight, often from the back foot, for their first win in the pool stage of the 2025 edition of the tournament last night. Shauna Weaver's and Paul Donaghy's team were pushed hard by the twin opponents of a battling foe in Tjunia and an erratic surface at the new stadium in the Vielfaltigian capital of Montbello, and despite what proved to be an invaluable advantage in batting second, it took a resolute 70 not out from Peter Hodgeson to see the Foxes home as the game threatened to slip from beneath their feet.
Despite the untold distances separating the two host nations, the match was scheduled as a grand opening for the tournament, with the first ball being bowled at the same time as Kimi Suomi against the Kytler Peninsulae over at the Iain Lexington Bowl in Rushmore. In the event, it was bowled slightly over an hour later; a dawn shower coming in from the docklands had drenched the stadium and environs, and it had taken a wonder of logistics to uncover and dry out the pitch. Fortunately, no overs were lost before the toss could take place, and perhaps the most important battle of the day was won in the moment that Weaver called tails and earned the right to send the Jaguars in to bat with the skies still overcast.
Jason Walkins and Logan McGarra consequently had to try and make a strong start on a pitch that was still cooling off against Andreyev's pace, and they struggled to do so. Andreyev was keeping to a good length but the bounce was unpredictable and runs were few and far between, and the Foxes were firmly in control throughout the first half of the innings. Walkins would eventually settle to an extent, and took advantage of Hodgeson's left arm spin to get the electronic video scoreboard ticking more regularly, but just as McGarra looked like doing the same, he was gone; just after sweeping Naomi Salisbury for four, he prodded ill-advisedly at a full ball from Andreyev and edged it through to Ilya Lebed, departing for 24 runs just as the fielding restrictions were lifted.
Next man in Roger Ntini soon proved to be the next man out, as he scooped Andreyev straight down the throat of Hodgeson at third man, before right-hander Chase Helton endured two and a half overs at the crease for just one run before chopping Terry Gibbs on to his stumps. The jagged Jaguars were in danger of collapsing in slow motion, but the arrival of Rohit Rajpore to partner Walkins steadied blue and orange nerves for a little while, and the two right-handers deftly - if a little too cautiously - navigated the middle overs with enough deftness and patience that Weaver was starting to revert back to Kevin Laing's tactics of rotating bowlers in and out to try and contain the budding partnership. In the end it was the veteran Salisbury that broke out of the stalemate, shortly after the pair brought up their half century, sending down a ball that drifted almost too wide before catching Walkins' knee rolls; the opener was plumb in front, but it took an age before Zelzokosu Naunbalerinden concurred, the Ko-orenite umpire eventually raising her finger to collective Plough Islander delight.
Salisbury soon had Rajpore, too, sending an arm ball skimming low under the bat of the right hander and plucking out his off stump, and the Jaguars were in deep trouble at 96 for 5. It was entirely owing to the invention and determination of the Tjunian lower order that they, just, held on for the remaining nineteen overs. Gibbs was virtually centimetre perfect from the pavilion end, keeping the Jaguars pinned back in their creases and even bowling two maiden overs, while Lauren Geddes was even tighter; with Gibbs in the side she was bowling mainly off breaks, and though she was limited to six overs she achieved her first international wicket by pinning Esteban Soto lbw for 7.
They were matched, and on occasion beaten, by some dogged batting; though the run rate dipped below three an over at times, the Jaguars clung to their wickets, refusing to let them go cheaply, and Zawar Ahmed (15), Gabriel Miziara (18), and captain Gregorson (25 not out) all reached double digits - the latter taking advantage of the faster pitch and older ball to score his side's only six off Andreyev with two overs remaining. The Redcliff pacer fought back in the final over, though, by first setting up a deceptive slower ball that Miziara charged down only for Lebed to spring the trap with the Jaguars' wicket-keeper firmly out of his ground, before bowling Peter Kylasov through the gate first ball, leaving only Ahmed Ali between Andreyev and an innings ending hat trick.
Ali flicked the final delivery into the on side, though, to leave the Plough Islands needing only 172 to win; the Jaguars doubtless would have stolen a few rueful glances at the sun, now shining brightly, and pondered that the toss had been a painful one for Gregorson to lose. Their hopes were raised early on though, as both of the Foxes' openers were back in the pavilion within four overs, Gabriel Forrester failing repeatedly to get off the mark before clipping the ball straight at Helton, and Andrew Weaver only managing 11 before mistiming a pull to Peter Kylasov and being judged lbw. It then fell to Shauna Weaver, anchoring herself at the crease once again, and - after losing Arnold Tyrie to a thick edge off Ali - Catherine Nasrullin to try and wrench the momentum back.
They set to wrenching; with the pitch now merely flat rather than deceptively variable, and the right hand/left hand combination tiring out the Tjunians from the shifting fields, the two women set about chasing in earnest, with Nasrullin in particular tearing into Ntini's part-time pace with gusto. They had almost brought the required runs back down to double figures by the time Nasrullin uncharacteristically left a Kylasov ball that angled in and clipped her off stump, and had to trudge back for 23; her departure brought out Hodgeson, who set out his ambitions immediately by thumping the Tjunian right-armer back over his head for four. A new pattern was established - Weaver held down the bowlers at one end, keeping the target decreasing with singles and twos, while her new partner was free to lash out at the occasionally wayward length of Kylasov and score more or less at will.
The pair blazed a quick half century partnership, as the atmosphere in the stadium shifted decisively towards those in green and purple. It looked as though they would see the Plough Islands safely home, but just one run short of a thirtieth One Day International half century, Weaver had a lapse in concentration and bottom edged Ntini into her own stumps. With only 30 runs left to score, it seemed as though the twist had come too late, but Gregorson brought Ali back into the Tjunian attack and when he removed Lebed and Andreyev in successive overs, suddenly nothing could be taken as certain.
Ali by now was on song, and the Tjunian contingent in the stadium had found their voices as well; while the balance of probabilities very much favoured the Foxes, Hodgeson was in danger of running out of partners, and with the shadows creeping back over the outfield, the conditions were getting just a little more difficult. Still the Plough Islands pushed, though, and they had ground away at the target to just single figures when they lost Geddes; Hodgeson had driven the ball back down the ground and set off for a single, but the ball, played along the ground, slowed to a crawl and allowed Gregorson to reach it before angling a throw at the stumps, finding both players scrambling to be at the same end and injecting some hope into the Jaguars.
With only Salisbury and Gibbs remaining, it was all on the young shoulders of Hodgeson, but by now the goal was within one swipe. What Geddes' run out had confirmed was that if the Foxes were to reach the boundary, they would have to do so by air - the sun having dipped low enough that moisture had returned to the outfield, and shots played along the ground were slowing up before they could even reach the circle. It was a lesson that Hodgeson learned well; Ntini had two balls left in the over, and the New Hibernian only needed one, closing down a short ball and working it high over extra cover, the ball landing just short of the rope and bouncing over to finally secure the victory.
However the result came, it was a strong start for the Plough Islands in their first match under the care of Donaghy, and the former Redcliff captain credited the victory to his team's character. "It was a difficult game at times but we managed to see it through, unironically in the spirit of socialism; everyone came together and played their part when they needed to, it is a privilege to be here with this group of talented Plough Islanders and we are very grateful to be in the service of the our country." Weaver, though, paid tribute to the Foxes' opponents; "They pushed us very hard with the changing conditions, Ali was bowling really well and it was probably a good toss to win that we were batting when we did. We have been a little bit rusty coming out of winter back on the islands, and they ran us very close." It was an assessment her star performer agreed with. "It was a little bit of a worry when the wickets were going, especially when we lost Lauren." admitted Hodgeson. "But I was seeing the ball well and reading the field alright and yes, in spite of all the troubles I can stand back and say it was a good batting performance, especially in the context of the result!".
Even with those troubles, it was an ultimately satisfactory visit to this gleaming monument to the Vielfaltigian financial interests that brought the World Trophy to these shores, and it will be a relatively short trip across the Montebello metropolis to the Lawson Oval, a more intimate setting by the standards of our hosts - though still one capable of accommodating even a packed December Park - where the Plough Islands will spend the rest of the pool stage. There Grand Exultia await, having dispatched the hosts by three wickets over in Kaunus (Graham Bellamy having gone for a duck in his eponymous stadium); Weaver's side will need to improve their batting and their resilience on what will likely be a faster, if more predictable, pitch than the one they batted on today.
But the Foxes have risen to the occasion - if sometimes by a circuitous route - often enough in the last three years that there is much to be hopeful for as the competition unfolds. The World Trophy has returned, and the Plough Islands are at the centre of it and doing their best, and that is all we can ask for - whether we are out here in Vielfaltig or one of the hundred and forty thousand back home, our hearts will be with Weaver and her team.

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR WORLD TROPHY VS. G. EXULTIA

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#7  G   Forrester        LHB      
#18 ANL Weaver           RHB      
#1  SLC Weaver (c)       RHB   RLB
#17 ADM Tyrie            RHB   RLB
#13 ES  Nasrullin        LHB      
#11 P   Hodgeson         LHB   SLW
#12 IT  Lebed (w)        LHB      
#2  DV  Andreyev         RHB   RFM
#8  LNC Geddes           RHB   ROB
#14 NA  Salisbury        LHB   SLA
#9  TSF Gibbs            RHB   RLB

by **Baggieland** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 10:11 am

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 11:39 am

"The feeling you get when you lose at home to start your own tournament..."

"Kimi-Suomi Batting
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
A. Aaltonen       lbw b Jónsson                  24  35   1   0   68.57
W. Tykkä          c Mole b Bosch                 17  26   0   0   65.38
A. Järnefelt      not out                       104 138   6   1   75.36
L. Pöysti         c Willis b Bosch                2   2   0   0  100
J. Paarma         c Walton b Ash                 57  70   3   1   81.43
M. Linnankoski    c Willis b Garnett              2   4   0   0   50
A. Ackté          not out                        18  27   1   0   66.67
      EXTRAS      (8 b, 4 lb, 6 wd, 2 nb)        20
       TOTAL      for 5 wickets                 244   (50 ov; 4.88 RPO)
Did not bat:    L. Lehtovaara, Å. Lindman, S. Hyypia, S. Eskola

FOW: 1-33 (W. Tykkä, 6.5 overs); 2-53 (L. Pöysti, 9.1 overs); 3-60 (A. Aaltonen, 12.5 overs); 
     4-189 (J. Paarma, 39.5 overs); 5-194 (M. Linnankoski, 40.5 overs)

The Kytler Peninsulae Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
M. Jónsson           10   1  36  1    3.6  
C. Ash                7   0  30  1   4.29  
L. Bosch             10   0  65  2    6.5  (2 wd)
E. Garnett           10   1  53  1    5.3  (4 wd, 2 nb)
F. Wallace            5   0  22  0    4.4  
W. Taklik             4   0  24  0      6  
B. Mole               3   0  14  0   4.67  

The Kytler Peninsulae Batting   (Target: 245)
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
D. Randolph       b Eskola                        9  19   0   0   47.37
L. Bosch          c Linnankoski b Eskola         28  16   2   2  175
J. Walton         not out                       123 144   8   0   85.42
K. Willis         c Lindman b Lehtovaara         10  20   0   0   50
R. Oldham         c Lindman b Lehtovaara         13  22   1   0   59.09
B. Mole           lbw b Hyppia                    3   6   0   0   50
W. Taklik         c & b Linnankowski             15  25   1   0   60
C. Ash            lbw b Hyppia                    4  10   0   0   40
F. Wallace        b Lehtovaara                   10  17   1   0   58.82
E. Garnett        c & b Lehtovaara                5   5   1   0  100
M. Jónsson        b Lehtovaara                    1  11   0   0    9.09
      EXTRAS      (6 b, 4 lb, 4 wd, 2 nb)        16
       TOTAL      all out                       237   (48.5 ov; 4.85 RPO)
                

FOW: 1-40 (D. Randolph, 5.1 overs); 2-45 (L. Bosch, 5.5 overs); 3-69 (K. Willis, 10.2 overs); 
     4-109 (R. Oldham, 16.1 overs); 5-124 (B. Mole, 19.5 overs); 6-160 (W. Taklik, 27.2 overs); 
     7-180 (C. Ash, 31.4 overs); 8-205 (F. Wallace, 37.4 overs); 9-220 (E. Garnett, 43.1 overs); 
     10-237 (M. Jónsson, 48.5 overs)

Kimi-Suomi Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
S. Eskola            10   1  42  2    4.2  
S. Hyypia             9   2  36  2      4  (2 nb)
L. Lehtovaara       9.5   1  50  5   5.08  (2 wd)
W. Tykkä              5   0  36  0    7.2  
L. Pöysti             8   0  40  0      5  (2 wd)
M. Linnankoski        7   0  33  1   4.71

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 11:51 am

Vielfaltigian Pool MD2 results

TJUN-ia 255/7 (50 overs)
Vielfaltig 259/9 (48.3 overs)
Vielfaltig win by 1 wicket

The Plough Islands 390/6 (50 overs)
Grand Exultia 340/8 (50 overs)
The Plough Islands win by 50 runs

Liventia 298/9 (47.2 overs)
The Golden Harp 297/7 (50 overs)
Liventia win by 1 wicket

Baggieland 230/2 (35.5 overs)
Indo-Athena 229 (43.4 overs)
Baggieland win by 8 wickets

Milchama 241 (49.2 overs)
Aryavarna 300/8 (50 overs)
Aryavarna win by 59 runs

Ko-oren 235/9 (50 overs)
Natkr 236/9 (33.1 overs)
Natkr win by 1 wicket

TEAM			W	L	D	NRR
Natkr			2	0	0	+2.86
The Plough Islands	2	0	0	+1.54
Baggieland		2	0	0	+1.25
Grand Exultia		1	1	0	+0.22
Milchama		1	1	0	+0.18
Indo-Athena		1	1	0	-0.24
Vielfaltig		1	1	0	-0.50
Aryavarna		1	1	0	-0.82
Liventia		1	1	0	-0.92
TJUN-ia			0	2	0	-0.94
The Golden Harp		0	2	0	-1.08
Ko-oren			0	2	0	-2.05

by **Vielfaltig** » Tue Mar 18, 2025 12:04 pm

Kytlerian Pool MD2

The Kytler Peninsulae 257 (48.2 overs)
South Newlandia 294 (47.4 overs)
South Newlandia won by 37 runs

Kimi-Suomi 218 (48.2 overs)
Vaishnavaria 222/5 (36.5 overs)
Vaishnavaria won by 5 wickets (79 balls remaining)

Quebec and Shingoryeo 239 (31 overs)
Impreo De Jap 253/7 (50 overs)
Impreo De Jap won by 14 runs

Darmen 414/5 (50 overs)
Indusse 288/9 (50 overs)
Darmen won by 126 runs

Eastfield Lodge 215/8 (40.2 overs)
Crpostran 214/8 (50 overs)
Eastfield Lodge won by 2 wickets (58 balls remaining)

Sylestone 203/3 (50 overs)
Yuugria 240/8 (50 overs)
Yuugria won by 37 runs

TEAM	                W	L	D	NRR
Vaishnavaria	        2	0	0      +1,46
Darmen	                2	0	0      +1,29
Yuugria	                2	0	0      +1,08
Eastfield Lodge	        2	0	0      +0,75
Indusse	                1     	1	0      +0,21
South Newlandia	        1	1	0      -0,24
Kimi-Suomi	        1	1	0      -0,67
Impreo De Jap	        1	1	0      -1,33
Quebec and Shingoryeo	0	2	0      -0,17
The Kytler Peninsulae	0	2	0      -0,44
Sylestone	        0	2	0      -0,6
Crpostran	        0	2	0      -1,28

by **Indusse** » Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:30 am

OOC: The Copyright message at the end of the post has been used from the standard copyright message from multiple books.

LexiRead™ > Web Edition
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The Half Blood Saga II
Chapter IV
The Refuge
Previous Edition
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III

Mehrea looked exhausted as she led Adael and Ashear deeper into the cave network. The refuge was larger than it first appeared, tunnels branching off in several directions, all illuminated by the strange blue fungus. People roamed around in small groups, their faces hollow with fear and fatigue. "How many?" Adael asked quietly. "Thirty-seven," Mehrea replied, her voice tight. "All that remain of Fararah who haven't been Turned." She paused, her hand brushing against a rough wall for support. "We've lost so many."

The Sphere of Balance pulsed against Adael's chest, resonating with the emotions filling the cave with fear, desperation, and a thin thread of hope that seemed ready to snap at any moment. Kael followed behind them, still pressing his hand to his wounded side. Despite his attempts to hide it, Adael could see the Guardian was struggling to remain upright "You need to rest," Adael told him. "Let me see that wound." "Later," Kael insisted. "First, we talk."

They entered a small chamber where maps had been spread across a makeshift table fashioned from barrels and planks. Markings in red showed the areas lost to the shadows, while blue indicated the few remaining safe passages. Almost the entire map was red. "It started three days after you left for Jehnara," Mehrea explained, tracing her finger across the map. "The portal you used created a weakness—a tear that the Shadowblades exploited. At first, it was just raids. Then they discovered how to Turn people."

"Turn them how?" Ashear asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Kael slumped onto a stone seat. "They've found a way to infect people with shadow essence. It's slow at first and then it is changes in behavior, memory loss. Then their eyes begin to darken until..." He shuddered. "Until nothing of who they were remains." Miha fluttered nervously around the chamber. "The air itself feels wrong. Tainted."

"Because it is," came a new voice from the entrance. Adael turned to see Azahl, his mentor and the man he'd believed was his father for seventeen years. The warrior looked different now—his left arm bound in a sling, a jagged scar running from his temple to jaw, his eyes haunted but still defiant. "Adael," Azahl said, his voice thick with emotion. He crossed the room in three strides and embraced him with his good arm. "You found your way back."

"I brought help," Adael said, pulling away to look at the man who'd raised him. "I've learned so much in Jehnara. About who I am, what I can do." Azahl's eyes flickered to Mehrea. Some unspoken communication passed between them. "Show him," Mehrea said quietly. Azahl hesitated, then nodded. "Follow me." He led them through another passage, this one sloping downward. The blue fungus grew sparser here, leaving patches of unsettling darkness. At the end of the tunnel was a heavy wooden door, reinforced with metal bands. Azahl produced a key from beneath his tunic and unlocked it.

Inside was a small, circular chamber. In its center, held within a ring of strange, glowing stones, was a young woman. Her skin had a grayish cast, and dark veins spread like spiderwebs across her exposed arms and neck. She looked up as they entered, her eyes completely black except for pinpricks of red light at their centers. "Lina," Ashear gasped in recognition. The young woman—or what had once been her, pulled against invisible restraints, hissing like a cornered animal.

"She was the first to be Turned in the village," Azahl explained grimly. "We managed to capture her before the transformation was complete. The stones hold her, but they're losing power." Adael felt the Sphere pulse stronger, almost painfully, against his chest. He removed it, holding it before him. In its presence, the Turned woman shrieked and recoiled. "It reacts to her," Adael observed. "Or rather, to what's inside her." "The corruption," Mehrea said. "We've been studying her, trying to understand. If we could reverse the process..."

The Sphere suddenly flared with brilliant light. Images flooded Adael's mind—the Council chamber in Jehnara, Ethran's worried face, the prophecy scroll unrolled before him. And something else, a dark figure moving through shadows, gathering strength, watching through the eyes of the Turned. "It knows I'm here," Adael said suddenly, cold realization washing over him. "The shadow leader, he can see through them. Through all of them."

As if confirming his words, Lina's head snapped toward him, her blackened eyes fixing on his face. When she spoke, her voice was layered with something ancient and malevolent. "Half-blood," she hissed. "The last piece. Finally." Kael drew his sword instantly. "We need to leave. Now." A tremor ran through the cave, dust and small stones rattling down from the ceiling. "What's happening?" Ashear demanded, steadying herself against the wall. Azahl's face went pale. "They've found us. The refuge is compromised."

Another, stronger tremor shook the chamber. In the confusion, Lina lunged forward, the restraining magic of the stones flickering as her hand shot out, fingers grasping for the Sphere. "No!" Adael shouted, instinctively thrusting the Sphere forward. A pulse of pure light erupted from it, striking Lina squarely in the chest. She was thrown backward, her body convulsing as darkness seemed to pour from her mouth and eyes, vanishing into the air. When the light faded, Lina lay still on the ground. For a moment, Adael feared he'd killed her. Then her chest rose with a shallow breath, and her eyes fluttered open—normal, human eyes, filled with confusion and fear.

"What..." she whispered. "What happened to me?" Before anyone could answer, the door burst open. A refugee stood there, terror etched on his face. "They're coming!" he cried. "Hundreds of them. The tunnels won't hold!" Mehrea moved quickly to Lina's side, helping the disoriented girl to her feet. "The Sphere purged the shadow from her," she said, wonder in her voice. "Adael, you might be able to—" Another violent tremor cut her off, chunks of rock now falling from the ceiling. "There's no time," Kael insisted. "We need to evacuate everyone through the eastern passages."

"To where?" Azahl demanded. "There's nowhere left to hide!" Adael looked down at the Sphere, still glowing brightly in his hands. The connection to Jehnara—he could feel it, a thin thread of possibility. "I know where we can go," he said firmly. "But I'll need help opening the way." As another tremor shook the cave, Adael's grip tightened on the Sphere. The time for hiding was over. Now, they would have to fight.

To be Continued...

Copyright © Akiho Banwari.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

http://www.lexiread.org

by **Baggieland** » Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:59 pm

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Wed Mar 19, 2025 4:24 pm

After a death by a thousand cuts against The Plough Islands, the Bowlin' Jaguars of TJUN-ia were 0-1 in this World Trophy and that was not good news at all for a team at the end of an era looking to go out on a high. Virat Indushapa knew that things had to be better and fast if we were to get this campaign truly started, but would The Quanta Stadium in Montebello City allow that?

Co-hosts and debutants Vielfaltig were next to face us, the Veiled Knights winning the toss and opting to bowl first. After the disappointment of the previous opening innings, we knew that things had to get better in that regard for this contest...and to be fair, it did. Despite the damage that Juliane Schottmer did to our middle order (4-67), despite leaking 7 wickets in this time, we somehow...cooked? To an extent, but we cooked. Chase Helton got 56, Zawar Ahmed got 78 and even Captain Joseph Gregorson himself managed 37 in his limited showing as we put up a target of 255/7 for the Knights to chase. And it was close. Ahmed Ali and Peter Kylasov grabbed 3 wickets each, Rohit Rajpore got 2...the Veiled Knights conceded all bar one of their wickets in this chase. But Graham Bellamy was impenetrable. 154* on his fucking back. He secured the century and a half with a walk-off six to secure the one wicket win for the co-hosts. The crowd roared...and TJUN-ia were 0-2.

Disaster. Absolute disaster. The Golden Harp, a fellow winless team, are up next. Game on? GO BOWLIN' JAGS!

SCHEDULE (VIELFALTIGIAN POOL, Vielfaltig)
MD1: vs The Plough Islands (1) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City L by 2 wickets (10th)
MD2: vs Vielfaltig (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City L by 1 wicket (10th)
MD3: vs The Golden Harp (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD4: vs Liventia (7) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD5: vs Grand Exultia (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD6: vs Baggieland (10) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City

by **Kimi-Suomi** » Wed Mar 19, 2025 5:15 pm

Sometimes, the fun times just stop. Just like that. And you can't do shit about it.
The Karhut of Kimi-Suomi had their fun on MD1, taking out the co-hosts in spectacular fashion, but as is the way of the world, nothing that cool could last forever.

In our new home, St Margaret's Oval in Florley Garden City, Vaishnavarinen were playing in their 2nd ever ODI contest at 1-0.
We won the toss and elected to bowl first, thinking our expertise could take us through this challenge.
But that was not what happened.
Instead, Sam Bradwel and Austin Bowman became our undoing and helped bowl us out for just 218.
They would chase that down for 5 wickets with 79 balls to spare.
We were cooked. Simple as that.

Crpostran up next. We have to do better than that. Seriously. NOSTA KUIN KARHUT!

SCHEDULE/AJOITTAA (KYTLERIAN POOL, Kytlerin Niemimaa [The Kytler Peninsulae])
MD1: vs Kytlerin Niemimaa [The Kytler Peninsulae] (19) - Iain Lexington Bowl, Carroll Lewiston W by 7 runs/Voita 7 juoksulla (5th)
MD2: vs Vaishnavarinen [Vaishnavaria] (UR) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City L by 5 wickets/Tappio 5 portit
MD3: vs Crpostran (UR) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City
MD4: vs Itäkentän Lodge [Eastfield Lodge] (12) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City
MD5: vs Etelä Uusimaainen [South Newlandia] (20) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City
MD6: vs Sylestone (2) - St Margaret's Oval, Florley Garden City

by **Liventia** » Thu Mar 20, 2025 2:44 am

IV World Trophy — Second Round Group G (Liventia ODI no. 82)
Played at Preline Park, Bogen, Kaunus, Vielfaltig (50-over match)
Liventia v The Golden Harp
Liventia won the toss and elected to field first
Liventia won by five wickets
Man of the match: Rhys Quentin (Liventia)

The Golden Harp innings (50 overs maximum)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
Unknown			c Hasegawa b Price		 70  90   4   3   77.77
Unknown			run out (Price/Huws)		  7  11   1   0   63.63
Unknown			run out (Hunt/Martínez-Jones)	 89 119   5   1   74.78
Unknown			c & b De Cerci			 67  59   5   3	 113.55
Unknown			st †Daniels b De Cerci		 12  15   0   0	  80.00
Unknown			c Hasegawa b De Cerci		  4   2   1   0  200.00
Unknown			b Huws				  2   4   0   0	  50.00
Unknown			not out				  3   2   1   0	 150.00
Unknown			not out				 11   4   0   1  275.00
  EXTRAS		(6lb, 20wd, 6nb)		 32
  TOTAL			for 7 wickets			297 (50.0 ov; 5.94 rpo)

Did not bat Unknown, Unknown

FoW 1/8 Unknown (4.1), 2/122 Unknown (26.5), 3/233 Unknown (43.4), 4/263 Unknown (47.1), 
    5/267 Unknown (47.3), 6/275 Unknown (48.4), 7/277 Unknown (49.1)

Liventia bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
GJD Huws		10.0  1  55   1   5.50  (1wd, 1nb)
JJA Martínez-Jones	 9.0  0  53   0   5.88  (1wd)
DM Fillon		 7.0  1  30   0   4.28  (2wd, 2nb)
RPT de Cerci		 9.0  0  54   3   6.00  (4wd, 3nb)
EC Price		 8.0  0  56   1   7.00
PGX Bardet		 7.0  0  43   0   6.14


Liventia innings (target 298 from maximum 50 overs)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
Hasegawa DLMT		c Unknown b Unknown		 11  15   1   0	  73.33
EC Price		c †Unknown b Unknown		  0   1   0   0    0.00
PJ Trouvé		st †Unknown b Unknown		 73  99   8   0   73.73
PGX Bardet		c †Unknown b Unknown		 56  51   3   1  109.80
EAA Hunt		not out				 64  66   4   0   96.96
RL Quentin		c †Unknown b Unknown		 76  60   4   3	 126.66
WRD Daniels*†		not out				  0   0   0   0    –
  EXTRAS		(4lb, 5wd, 9nb)			 18
  TOTAL			for 5 wickets			298 (47.2 ov; 6.30 rpo)

Did not bat DM Fillon, JJA Martínez-Jones, RPT de Cerci, GJD Huws

FoW 1/2 Price (0.3), 2/13 Hasegawa (3.4), 3/127 Bardet (21.1), 4/164 Trouvé (30.1),
    5/294 Quentin (46.6)

The Golden Harp bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
Unknown			 8.0  0  59   1   7.37  (1wd, 5nb)
Unknown			10.0  0  66   1   6.60  (3nb)
Unknown			10.0  0  63   2   6.30  (2wd, 1nb)
Unknown			 9.2  0  54   0   5.78  (2wd)
Unknown			10.0  0  52   1   5.20

by **Sylestone** » Thu Mar 20, 2025 5:57 am

Yuugria Batting
Batter                                               R   B  4s  6s   SR
A An-Alsan (c) (+)    c Asaskia b Scron              0   4   0   0    
M Yuli                lbw b McMillan                33  25   1   3  132
K Felsun              st Tiati (+) b Sonnel         35  68   3   0   51.47
S Idrid               b Hall                        12  16   0   1   75
R Harza               lbw b Asaskia                 75  92   9   0   81.52
A Fansollak           c Hall b Cross                41  53   2   2   77.36
I Zunna               c Eastwood b Asaskia          12  18   0   0   66.67
T Sarfwan             b Asaskia                      0   2   0   0    
Y Kalafid             not out                       17  15   2   0  113.33
H Zadari              not out                        5   7   0   0   71.43
        EXTRAS        (2 b, 4 lb, 4 wd)             10
         TOTAL        for 8 wickets                240   (50 ov; 4.8 RPO)
Did not bat:        Z Zadari

FOW: 1-0 (A An-Alsan (c) (+), 0.4 overs); 2-39 (M Yuli, 7.4 overs); 3-50 (S Idrid, 11.4 overs); 
     4-121 (K Felsun, 29.1 overs); 5-165 (R Harza, 37.6 overs); 6-207 (I Zunna, 44.4 overs); 
     7-207 (T Sarfwan, 44.6 overs); 8-223 (A Fansollak, 47.1 overs)

Sylestone Bowling
Bowler                   Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
S Scron                  10   1  47  1    4.7  
J McMillan                8   0  35  1   4.38  (2 wd)
S Asaskia                 8   1  33  3   4.13  
B Hall                   10   1  36  1    3.6  (1 wd)
K Sonnel                  7   0  44  1   6.29  
S Cross                   7   1  39  1   5.57  (1 wd)

Sylestone Batting   (Target: 241)
Batter                                               R   B  4s  6s   SR
L Tiati (c) (+)       c An-Alsan (+) b Z Zadari      1   5   0   0   20
C Freehill            c Harza b H Zadari             0   1   0   0    
B Eastwood            lbw b H Zadari                 5  12   0   0   41.67
L Cocrine             c Sarfwan b H Zadari          13  18   2   0   72.22
S Cross               c An-Alsan (+) b H Zadari      2   6   0   0   33.33
L Afosha              b Harza                       25  57   3   0   43.86
S Asaskia             c&b H Zadari                 105 107   7   6   98.13
J McMillan            c An-Alsan (+) b Z Zadari      6  16   0   0   37.5
B Hall                not out                       35  41   5   0   85.37
S Scron               b H Zadari                     0   1   0   0    
K Sonnel              b Fansollak                    2   5   0   0   40
        EXTRAS        (6 b, 3 wd)                    9
         TOTAL        all out                      203   (44.5 ov; 4.53 RPO)
                    

FOW: 1-1 (C Freehill, 0.5 overs); 2-1 (L Tiati (c) (+), 1.2 overs); 3-12 (B Eastwood, 4.2 overs); 
     4-20 (S Cross, 6.3 overs); 5-21 (L Cocrine, 8.1 overs); 6-71 (L Afosha, 23.6 overs); 
     7-92 (J McMillan, 29.1 overs); 8-191 (S Asaskia , 42.3 overs); 9-191 (S Scron, 42.4 overs); 
     10-203 (K Sonnel, 44.5 overs)

Yuugria Bowling
Bowler                   Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
H Zadari                 10   2  29  6    2.9  
Z Zadari                  8   2  30  2   3.75  
I Zunna                   5   1   8  0    1.6  
Y Kalafid                 6   0  31  0   5.17  (2 wd)
R Harza                  10   1  53  1    5.3  
A Fansollak             2.5   0  20  1      8  
T Sarfwan                 3   0  26  0   8.67  (1 wd)

Venue: Snowflake City Oval, Zube, The Kytler Peninsulae
Match number: Match 18
Toss: Sylestone won the toss and elected to bowl
Season/Tournament: GCF ODI World Trophy V
Matchdays: Matchday Two
Player of the Match: Hakar Zadari (YUG)
Series result: 
Debut: 
Umpires: Unknown
TV Umpire: Unknown
Reserve Umpire: Unknown
Match Referee: Unknown
Match Result: Yuugria win by 37 runs

Playing XI vs Impreo de Jap @ Snowflake City Oval, Zube, The Kytler Peninsulae

1. Luke Tiati (c) (+)
2. Nicholas Lovia
3. Brianna Eastwood
4. Lachlan Cocrine
5. Samuel Cross
6. Samuel Asaskia
7. Brian Golman
8. Jesse McMillan
9. Broughton Hall
10. Samuel Scron
11. Kate Sonnel

by **The Plough Islands** » Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:01 am

on the 19th March 2025, the Plough Islands Gazette wrote:
WORLD TROPHY: EXISTENTIAL FURY FUELLED NASRULLIN AS EXULTIAN BOWLING BURNED
by Andrew Kulayev, Cricket Correspondent for Plough Radio, in Montebello

Being at a multiversal cricket tournament and watching far better resourced teams arriving at stadia flanked by army divisions of coaches for their players that have only known cricket all their lives, lays out quite starkly that the Plough Islander path to elite sport is, once again, rather different than most. But even among the Foxes, Catherine Nasrullin has taken a longer route, with more diversions, than many of her comrades.
A promising Young Foxes career, with three half centuries at the 2019 World 20-over Championships, was curtailed by the unexpected arrival of her daughter Amber later that year, and though Nasrullin was often in or around national team squads, often with Amber in tow, after returning from her enforced break - even training as a physical therapist in Sutton to help herself recover full fitness - circumstances often worked against her at moments when she would rather they not have; she scored 99* against Krytenia in the first match of the Foxes' successful title defence in 2023, but spent the knock-out stages of the tournament in a Liventian hospital bed after straining her back. Now, though, the very particular determination of the New Dalmatian left-hander may have brought her, if circuitously, to the pinnacle of international cricket not before her time.
It began an hour into the Foxes' innings against Grand Exultia at the Lawson Oval, when she walked out to bat with the Plough Islands at 88-3, when although Gabriel Forrester had misjudged the pitch and failed early, Andrew Weaver and Arnold Tyrie had stuck around with the captain to build a respectable platform. From the start, though - lashing out at a wide from Exultian star bowler Eldanaen Blackcairn - something was different to normal. Nasrullin was taking on shots aggressively and leaping forward to meet any balls short of a length; that much was standard operating procedure, and has been since this writer first saw her bat as a teenager. What was different was her intent, and what could be defined of her attitude from the press box and occasional flashes of the projection screen; she barely celebrated her half century, beyond a brief reciprocation of Weaver's hug, and when the television cameras caught her face through the grille all they saw were green eyes were scrunched up in deep concentration.
Were we watching Audrey Leggett, or any number of other archetypal Plough Islander batters, this would have been seen as grim determination or intense pride in representing their country, but the body language from Nasrullin told another story; one of anger. She appeared furious, taking out her frustrations on boundaries that ricocheted into the garish advertising boards that obscured the old clubhouse at this storied ground. It felt like it hardly mattered who was in front of her; certainly there was little that the Exultians could do, and after personally attempting some short bowling - which Nasrullin swatted away over her head for a one-bounce four - Larkspur had mostly been setting defensive fields to her in an attempt at containment.
It was not successful, as Nasrullin continued slashing and punching through the field with little visible remorse, though there was a briefly glimpsed flash of emotion when Weaver holed out on the square leg boundary. Even her century, and all that came with it - ripping a slower ball into the leg side to become the tenth Plough Islander to reach three figures in a One Day International, the second youngest, and only the second not wholly of British descent, after Andrew Fairfield - was only given the briefest of acknowledgment; the applause had not yet died down before her helmet was back on and she was glowering down the wicket at Crispen Darkfell, daring him to try the same tactic twice.
And still she fought on; though this writer has never been in a position to know, he would regardless have expected a loosening up after having climbed the mountain, but Nasrullin remained just as ruthless after the century as before. Peter Hodgeson came and left all too quickly after Weaver, but Ilya Lebed provided long term support at the other end while Nasrullin was dismissing the ball to all corners of the field. Larkspur brought the right-armer Blackcairn back, and she responded by hitting the ball so hard the quarter seam broke and it had to be changed, while on Plough Radio, as the overs ticked down, myself and Ian Goswell were daring to speculate about the future of the highest Foxes score in One Day Internationals, such was Nasrullin's ferocity.
Ultimately Arthur Donovan and Brett Scarbeck's adventures in Grande Cucina were safe; perhaps Nasrullin's luck statistically caught up to her, or perhaps she had finally relaxed and missed the Exultian fielder at short mid on that scooped the ball back to Bertelis Waldon with the hero of the day stranded. Even then, Nasrullin did not visibly break character, hoisting her bat in the air as she was cheered from the middle but barely recognising the crowd otherwise, and leaving the remainder of the innings for Lebed and Dimitry Andreyev to put a Russian flourish on this monumental Plough Islander performance.
It was perhaps telling that Nasrullin did not immediately come out to field in the Exultian innings, but the men in orange had enough of a fight as it was; the target of 391 was a long way away, and the numerical pressure from the scoreboard only grew heavier on the Exultians with each passing over. Though they kept pace in the initial stages of the chase - Andreyev's medium pace was constantly outplayed by the excellent Waldon, who scored at more than a run a ball and arguably deserved more than to fall to Terry Gibbs twelve runs short of a century - they fell away as lapses of judgment began to accumulate. Twice they lost wickets after communication issues left both batters at the non-striker's end, and Waldon aside, the story of their top order was one of a succession of players failing to progress from what had been a series of very good starts.
To their credit, though, they never stopped pushing; Selene Nightwhisper in particular continued to call for every run and found every gap she could even as the situation became mathematically hopeless, and her unbeaten 79, well earned by farming the strike for most of the last ten overs, made the eventual margin a lot smaller than it would have been otherwise. But she walked a lonely path, lacking any coherent support from the Exultian lower order, and though Andreyev and Naomi Salisbury failed to seal the match completely there was only one likely result long before the former's final runup of the afternoon.
What, then had been fuelling Catherine Nasrullin during the performance of her life until now? There was little sign of it when she replaced the young Robin Trevithick on the field after the drinks break; she had a few more embraces with her comrades than usual, but was otherwise back to her casual self, and it had certainly dissolved by the time this writer had the chance to ask her about it. "I feel more tired than anything, if I am being honest...I probably left just about everything out there, I got back to the pavilion and by the time I was on the balcony I could not remember getting out or much of the details of anything. It was fantastic to get to relive the achievement with everyone, though, that was when it sank in properly what had happened."
Had her anger been for anyone or anything in particular? Nasrullin could not answer directly. "I have been thinking about a lot of things on the tour, you know - you would probably remember from your days, Andrew, things like Amber, my family, the way the multiverse is going, but a lot of things closer to home that it makes no sense to anyone else to share why you feel the emotions you do. So it was for everything and nothing all at once. I think a lot of that was just flowing through my mind and getting more and more insistent, and you need to find an outlet for that." And, fortunately for the Foxes, the Exultian bowlers were that outlet. "Watching the tapes back this morning, they were getting genuine pace out there - they were coming in faster than anythng Dimitry was getting when we were bowling. But I was seeing everything, somehow. I cannot believe it. It was like watching someone else on the screen..."

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR WORLD TROPHY VS.  ARYAVARNA

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#7  G   Forrester        LHB      
#18 ANL Weaver           RHB      
#1  SLC Weaver (c)       RHB   RLB
#17 ADM Tyrie            RHB   RLB
#4  WC  Barrett          RHB      
#11 P   Hodgeson         LHB   SLW
#12 IT  Lebed (w)        LHB      
#2  DV  Andreyev         RHB   RFM
#3  S   Ashe             RHB   ROB
#14 NA  Salisbury        LHB   SLA
#10 JKI Hart             LHB   LMF

by **Grand Exultia** » Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:39 am

MD 2 The Lawson Oval, Montebello

Plough Islands Innings
Batter				        R   	B	4s	6s   	SR
Forrester (+) 	b E Blackcairn	        5	3	0 	0	166.66
A Weaver	c & b B Hulidi	        39	31 	4	2	125.80
S Weaver (C)	c A Deinomache b A Hawkhelm	86 	76	8	3	130.30
Tyrie	        b E Blackcairn	        20	18	1 	0	111.11
Nasrullin	Run Out D Vortexhelm	132	95	14	4	138.94
Hodgeson	c B Waldon b A Hawkhelm 16	15	2	0	106.66
Lebed		Not Out	                48 	41   	6	1   	117.07
Andreyev	Not Out	                27   	21 	3	0	128.57
Geddes	        Did not bat	        0   	0   	0	0	0
Salisbury	Did not bat	        0	0   	0	0	0
Gibbs	        Did not bat	        0 	0   	0	0   	0

       EXTRAS	17 (7wd, 4nb, 1b, 5lb)               
       TOTAL	390/6   (50 ov; 7.80 RPO)
                 


Grand Exultia Bowling
Bowlers	        Ov   	M	R	W	Econ 
E Blackcairn	10	0	50 	2 	5.00
A Hawkhelm	6	0	66	2	11.00 
B Hulidi	6	0	63  	1	5.16
K Celaeno	8	0	20 	0   	4.95
C Darkfell	7	0	39 	0	4.71
S Nightwhisper	5	0	52	0   	10.40             
D Vortexhelm	8	0 	88	0	11.00


 
Grand Exultia Innings
Batter		                R   	B  	4s  	6s   	SR
B Waldon (+)	b Gibbs	        88	72	0	0	122.22
A Deinomache 	st Lebed b Salisbury	14	13   	0	0	107.69
G Brimstone	Run Out	        55 	46 	0 	0	119.56
D Larkspur (C)	lbw Hodgeson	35	33	0	0	106.06
K Celaeno	Run Out	        40	38	0  	0  	105.26
S Nightwhisper	Not Out	        79	68  	0  	0	116.17
C Darkfell	lbw Andreyev	5	7   	0   	0	71.42
D Vortexhelm	b Andreyev	0  	5	0   	0	0
B Hulidi	lbw Salisbury	12	12  	0  	0	100
A Hawkhelm	Not Out	        1 	6  	0  	0   	16.66
E Blackcairn	Did not bat	0 	0   	0   	0   	0
       EXTRAS      11 (4wd, 1nb, 6b)            
       TOTAL       340/8   (50 ov; 6.80 RPO)
                 


Plough Islands Bowling
Bowlers	        Ov   	M	R	W	Econ 
Salisbury	8	0	48	2   	6.00
Andreyev	10	0	82 	2	8.20
Hodgeson	6	0 	48	1	8.00
Gibbs	        10	0	60	1	6.00
S Weaver	2	1	7	0	3.50      
Tyrie	        8	2	30	0	3.75
Geddes	        8	0	59	0	7.37

Umpire review with Syreswain Quickfinger
Welcome back to our new segment and it was a valiant fight against the world number one but we’ve seen the folly of our actions and been shown the true calibre of this competition. The team will need to pick themselves up, dust themselves off if they want to get anything out of our next match against Milchama.

Now for what you’re actually here for, to have a look at some contentious decisions and in a game of such high scoring and explosive batting thankfully, we avoided any howlers but clearly some people need to brush up on the rules.

The first big one here is the fielding display of Aete, Nasrullin hitting with aplomb and another big shot uncharacteristically didn’t quite find the middle and so Aete had a chance to take the catch on the boundary but as with all steeplers needed to take an extra step back which would have taken them over the boundary, a bit of quick thinking throwing the ball up and jumping back over the rope to take the catch, or was it? As the law states if you leave the area of play you must fully ground yourself before touching the ball again, well as you can see juuuuuust here Aete has taken control of the ball again and they are still in the air. A simple law to follow that may have helped to Exultias main demise as Nasrullin gets to carry on hitting ultimately achieving a convincing century display punishing some lacklustre short balls and demonstrating a truly aggressive, some may even say ruthless, batting display.

Another contentious lbw, I mean where do they get these umpires from? It would have taken a miracle for the Exultians to climb such a mountainous run chase and with some disastrous running between the wickets it was nigh on impossible but let’s run through this one here, Dronwick facing Hodgeson, the Plough Islander trundles up left arm over and the ball has questionably pitched in line with the leg stump but there’s so much turn it’s clearly going to miss the leg stump by nearly another set of stumps, laughable really.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Thu Mar 20, 2025 11:37 am

Vielfaltigian Pool MD3 results

TJUN-ia 193/9 (50 overs)
Indo-Athena 197/9 (32 overs)
Indo-Athena win by 1 wicket with 108 balls remaining

The Plough Islands 290/6 (50 overs)
Aryavarna 252 (48.4 overs)
The Plough Islands win by 38 runs

Liventia 216/9 (27 overs)
Natkr 214/6 (50 overs)
Liventia win by 1 wicket with 138 balls remaining

Baggieland 392/3 (50 overs)
Vielfaltig 245/6 (50 overs)
Baggieland win by 147 runs

Milchama 268/9 (50 overs)
Grand Exultia 244 (48.2 overs)
Milchama win by 24 runs

Ko-oren 243/3 (40.5 overs)
The Golden Harp 240 (46.5 overs)
Ko-oren win by 7 wickets with 55 balls remaining

TEAM			W	L	D	NRR
Baggieland		3	0	0	+1.89
The Plough Islands	3	0	0	+1.25
Natkr			2	1	0	+0.95
Liventia		2	1	0	+0.69
Indo-Athena		2	1	0	+0.56
Milchama		2	1	0	+0.28
Grand Exultia		1	2	0	-0.05
Aryavarna		1	2	0	-0.87
Ko-oren			1	2	0	-0.90
Vielfaltig		1	2	0	-1.38
The Golden Harp		0	3	0	-0.89
TJUN-ia			0	3	0	-1.34

Due to a technical issue I had initially with the NRR spreadsheet, there may be small NRR errors in the MD1 and MD2 table relating to Liventia and The Golden Harp, which have now been corrected.

by **Vielfaltig** » Thu Mar 20, 2025 11:42 am

Kytlerian Half MD3

The Kytler Peninsulae 170/5 (50 overs)
Indusse 172/3 (25.2 overs)
Indusse won by 7 wickets (148 balls remaining)

Kimi-Suomi 205/9 (41.3 overs)
Crpostran 201/8 (50 overs)
Kimi-Suomi won by 1 wicket (51 balls remaining)

Quebec and Shingoryeo 185/8 (38.4 overs)
Yuugria 182 (46.5 overs)
Quebec and Shingoryeo won by 2 wickets (68 balls remaining)

Darmen 304/6 (50 overs)
South Newlandia 199 (48.2 overs)
Darmen won by 105 runs

Eastfield Lodge 185 (48.3 overs)
Vaishnavaria 186/9 (22.5 overs)
Vaishnavaria won by 1 wicket (163 balls remaining)

Sylestone 257/4 (50 overs)
Impreo De Jap 258/9 (41.1 overs)
Impreo De Jap won by 1 wicket (53 balls remaining)

TEAM	                W	L	D	NRR
Vaishnavaria	        3	0	0	2,20
Darmen	                3	0	0	1,56
Indusse	                2	1	0	1,21
Yuugria	                2	1	0	0,36
Kimi-Suomi	        2	1	0      -0,11
Eastfield Lodge	        2	1	0      -0,48
Impreo De Jap	        2	1	0      -0,58
Quebec and Shingoryeo	1	2	0	0,26
South Newlandia	        1	2	0      -0,86
Sylestone	        0	3	0      -0,72
Crpostran	        0	3	0      -1,17
The Kytler Peninsulae	0	3	0      -1,24

by **Grand Exultia** » Fri Mar 21, 2025 5:25 am

Umpire review with Syreswain Quickfinger
Hello and welcome back to our umpire segment where I take a look at some of the misunderstandings of the law, simple lapses in player judgement and as always some questionable decisions by these professional umpires.

We’re going to have a focus on dead ball today as we see a couple of instances that can really impact the game.

Our first instance sees Bertelis collect a delivery from Byzan, a sharp take and with Dreilbies looking unsteady they hold it the stumps waiting to see if the foot moves. As we roll the footage forward we see the back foot just lift here, Bertelis whips the bails off and a massive appeal to the square leg umpire for what should have been a simple dismissal. Remonstration from the batsmen and a quick consultation between the umpires and they signal that the ball was dead. I cannot fathom at what point the standing umpire considered the fielding side to disregard the ball as in play considering Bertelis was very focused on the back foot of Dreilbies who went on to punish the Exultian bowlers after this reprieve.

Somewhat less contentious that the less educated Exultious fans seem to have taken great umbrage against is the delivery of Blackcairn to Malliteen, an absolute peach of a delivery that shapes in slightly, pitches in line with off and straightens just enough to clip the top of off, but Malliteen wasn’t ready so steps back and makes no attempt to play the ball. Now I can see why people might be against the batters decision somewhat as they left it reasonably late to back away but if we roll back and forth their head does not raise from the moment they start taking their guard here and to when they back away here. Malliteen can argue that they stepped away in Blackcairns bound so prior to the delivery stride and in this instance I do believe the dead ball was the right call begrudging a sublime delivery.

Now there are certain rules that transcend simply in or out, some rules fly in the face of the spirit of the game. We’re getting to the nitty-gritty of the run chase, 28 runs required 4 and a half overs remaining with two wickets in hand, not the best position but certainly doable with an inform Selene at the non-strikers end with Altheriorn facing. Selene maybe a little too keen to get back on strike and protect the tailender made to run just as Woods reaches the crease but rather than delivery another blistering effort at the somewhat shaky Altheriorn they come to an abrupt halt and remove the bails leaving Selene short of their ground, a prompt appeal and a quick finger raised and ensuing pandemonium. Now did tempers fray egregiously because Selene was the last recognised batter and thus chance of winning, probably but is a “Mankad” in the spirit of the game not at all, is attempting to gain an advantage by leaving your crease in the spirit of the game, I hate to say it but probably not either. Now would it have been in the spirit of the game to provide a warning and tell Selene to stop pinching the yards, definitely and that would have been the right thing for March to do, rescind the appeal, warn Selene and let the game come to a more natural conclusion but clearly Milchama were taking no prisoners and thus the run chase imploded.

by **Indusse** » Fri Mar 21, 2025 6:48 am

OOC: The Copyright message at the end of the post has been used from the standard copyright message from multiple books.

LexiRead™ > Web Edition
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The Half Blood Saga II
Chapter V
The Rise of Shadows
Previous Edition
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV

Ashear stepped to Adael's side. "Whatever you need." "Get everyone to the main chamber," Adael instructed. "I'll try to contact the Council in Jehnara. If I can establish a connection, we might be able to evacuate through a portal." "And if you can't?" Azahl asked. Adael met his gaze steadily. "Then we fight. And I use the Sphere to cleanse as many of the Turned as I can."
As they hurried back through the tunnels, the tremors grew stronger. Sounds of fighting echoed from the direction of the cave entrance—the first line of defenders engaging the approaching shadows.

In the main chamber, panic had taken hold. Refugees gathered with whatever few possessions they had, children crying, adults trying to maintain some order. Adael climbed onto a raised section of rock. "Listen to me!" he called out, his voice carrying with unexpected authority. "I need everyone to gather in the center of the chamber. Form a circle, join hands if you can." As the refugees reluctantly complied, Adael placed the Sphere on the ground before him. He closed his eyes, concentrating as Ethran had taught him, reaching across the divide between worlds.

Father, he called with his mind. We need help. The shadow has found us. For a long, terrible moment, there was nothing. Then, faintly, he felt a response—a recognition, a flicker of connection. Adael? The Council senses the disturbance. What's happening? We need to evacuate survivors to Jehnara. Now. Can you help us create a portal? Another tremor, stronger than before. Dust filled the air. From one of the tunnels came the sounds of combat—steel against steel, cries of pain and rage.

It's dangerous, Ethran's voice warned in his mind. Creating a portal large enough, with the barriers already weakened... Please, Adael pressed. There's no other choice. He felt his father's resignation, then determination. The Council is gathering. Channel the Sphere's energy upward. We'll try to meet you halfway. Adael opened his eyes. "Everyone stay together!" he shouted over the growing chaos. "Help is coming!"

He lifted the Sphere above his head. It began to pulse with increasing intensity, threads of light spiraling outward and upward. The ceiling of the chamber seemed to ripple and thin, reality itself bending. Kael and a handful of warriors backed into the chamber, weapons drawn, fighting a retreating action against shadowy figures pushing in from the tunnels. "Hurry!" Kael called. "We can't hold them much longer!" The air above Adael began to shimmer and split, a faint image of Jehnara's crystal towers visible through the growing rift. But it wasn't opening fast enough.

"Something's blocking it," Adael realized aloud. "The shadow is fighting against the connection." Mehrea stepped forward. "Let me help." She placed her hands on the Sphere alongside Adael's. "I may have left Jehnara long ago, but its magic still flows in my veins."
Together, mother and son channeled their combined will into the Sphere. The portal expanded, edges stabilizing. "Now!" Adael shouted to the refugees. "Through the portal!"

The first few hesitated, then ran forward and leapt, disappearing into the shimmering gateway. Others followed, Ashear helping the elderly and wounded. At the tunnels, the defenders were falling back, overwhelmed by the sheer number of Turned villagers pushing forward. Their movements were jerky and unnatural, but their strength was terrifying. Azahl fought at the front, his injury seemingly forgotten in the heat of battle.

"Adael!" Mehrea's voice was strained with effort. "I can't hold it much longer!" More refugees passed through the portal. Miha flew overhead, directing people toward safety. But time was running out. The first of the Turned broke through the defensive line, lunging toward the huddled refugees. Adael had to make a decision, should he maintain the portal or fight. He couldn't do both. "Kael!" he called. "Take over here. Hold it open with my mother!"

Before the Guardian could protest, Adael thrust the Sphere into his hands and stepped forward to face the approaching shadows. Drawing on everything he'd learned in Jehnara, he channeled pure light energy through his body. As the first Turned reached him, Adael slammed his palm against its chest. Light erupted from the point of contact, spreading outward through the creature's body. The shadow essence writhed and dissolved, leaving behind a confused villager who collapsed to his knees.

"Fall back!" Adael ordered the remaining defenders. "Get to the portal!" One by one, they retreated. Azahl was the last, still fighting even as he backed toward the portal. "Azahl, go!" Adael shouted, cleansing another Turned with a burst of light. "Not without you!" Azahl growled, cutting down a shadow creature. More Turned poured into the chamber. Adael couldn't cleanse them fast enough. The portal was shrinking despite Kael and Mehrea's efforts. "Adael!" Ashear called from beside the portal. "We have to go now!"

With a final surge of effort, Adael released a wave of light energy that pushed back the approaching shadows. He turned and ran toward the portal, where Ashear waited with Kael, Mehrea, and Azahl. "Together!" he said, grabbing the Sphere from Kael's hands. The five of them leapt through the shimmering gateway just as the cave ceiling began to collapse behind them. The transition was more violent than before, now it was a chaotic tumbling through space and time. When they emerged on the other side, they found themselves in the Chamber of Transitions in Jehnara, surrounded by the astonished faces of the Council.

Refugees from Fararah huddled in groups, bewildered by their surroundings. Many were injured, all were traumatized. But they were alive. Ethran rushed forward, embracing Adael. "You did it," he said, relief evident in his voice. Then he saw Mehrea standing nearby, and everything else seemed to fade away. "Mehrea," he whispered. She smiled faintly. "Hello, Ethran. It's been a long time." Their reunion was interrupted by Aria, the High Luminary, who stepped forward with grave concern. "You've brought many through," she observed. "But at great cost. The veil between worlds is now torn beyond repair."

"Meaning what?" Adael asked, still catching his breath. "Meaning," Aria replied solemnly, "that what you feared has come to pass. The shadow can now move freely between Jehnara and Fararah. The final battle has begun." Adael looked around at the survivors—at his mother and Ethran, his birth father; at Azahl, the man who raised him; at Kael, still wounded but standing proudly; at Ashear, who had never left his side. Then he looked down at the Sphere of Balance in his hands, its light pulsing with renewed purpose.

"Then we'd better be ready," he said. Behind him, through the remnants of the portal, a darkness gathered. Watching. Waiting. Growing stronger.

To be Continued...

Copyright © Akiho Banwari.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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by **Baggieland** » Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:54 am

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Fri Mar 21, 2025 4:18 pm

TJUN-ia 193/9 (50 overs)
Indo-Athena 197/9 (32 overs)
Indo-Athena win by 1 wicket with 108 balls remaining

Welcome to TJUN-ia, where we can win the EspoT20 but start the GCF ODI tournament 0-3.
This match was chaos, pure and simple.
Indo-Athena, the debutants, lost 9 wickets in 32 overs...and still won the match!
Like holy fuck, how do you do that?
Sure, we fucked up by only getting 193/9 in our innings, but we thought we had this in the bag...but no.
Instead, TJUN-ian sporting joy was wiped away in an instant.

We hope that in these final few games, we go out happy. If we make Top 8, it may be a miracle at this point.
GO BOWLIN' JAGS!

SCHEDULE (VIELFALTIGIAN POOL, Vielfaltig)
MD1: vs The Plough Islands (1) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City L by 2 wickets (10th)
MD2: vs Vielfaltig (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City L by 1 wicket (10th)
MD3: vs Indo-Athena (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City L by 1 wicket (12th)
MD4: vs Liventia (7) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD5: vs Grand Exultia (UR) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City
MD6: vs Baggieland (10) - The Quanta Stadium, Montebello City

GCF World Trophy V | IC thread

Party Crasher

Stumps!: Time To Start

Stumps!: So Close, Yet So Far

Ouch

Stumps!: .........

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