[Misc] World's Hardest Creature XI - 2nd round draw LIVE

[jimhigham]

Good evening and welcome to the draw for the second round of World's Hardest Creature XI, coming to you LIVE from Springwatch's den deep in Withdean Woods. Michaela will be keeping a tight grip on the legendary velvet bag and Gillian and Martin will be doing the honours, rummaging for destiny. Before we move on let's take a moment to reflect on the group stages.

Two surprises confounded the WHC faithful, with the early departure of former champ the Mantis Shrimp and the inexplicable rise of the Basset Hound. However, a VAR referral led to the Basset Hound receiving a yellow card and it is now on notice. Unless some form of justification for its presence in the second round is offered up the Basset faces disqualification. WHC's uneasy courtship with new technology continues...

The Great White carried the day, winning more votes than any other contender in the opening round although it was closely pursued by the Salt Water Crocodile. The Black Swallower and Hippopotamus completed the top four with defending champion, the Honey Badger coming home safely in fifth, carrying the flame for exclusively land based hard-nuts everywhere.

And so on we go. Numbers to look out for in the draw feature 7 for current darling the Bobbit Worm, 16 for microscopic mentalist the Tardigrade and fancied furry howler the Grasshopper Mouse comes in at 8. Michaela? Team? Away you go...

 

[jimhigham]

Thanks Chris. My 16 balls are well and truly shuffled. Let's go team...

 

[jimhigham]

(rattle)

Number 5 - the Honey Badger. First out of the bag for the defending champion.

 

[jimhigham]

(rattle fumble)

Will play number 1 - The Great White Shark. Oh my days! That's a scorcher of a tie right there. One of the big guns doomed to fall before the quarters. That's going to upset some supporters.

 

[jimhigham]

(shuffle)

Number 3 - the Black Swallower. Strong new entrant for 2018 with high hopes.

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

The badger will wipe the floor with the shark #teambadgerforlife

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[jimhigham]

(shake shake shake)

...against number 11 - the Orca. A fascinating ocean match up. We know the Swallower has an oversized stomach but that's an enormous challenge.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

Jesus I am only refreshing to try and stay up with this draw

 

[jimhigham]

(feel)

16. That's 16. Tardigrade. Surprisingly attracted the least votes of all those reaching round 2. Will need to raise its game against...

 

[Dorset Seagull]

Come on Jim get your balls out

 

[jimhigham]

(dip)

15. The Black Mamba. So that's Tardigrade v Black Mamba.

 

[jimhigham]

(fumble)

6. The Tasmanian Devil.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

Seems to me you are spending too much time playing with that ball bag Jim

 

[jimhigham]

(rattle)

13. Basset Hound. So that's a winnable tie for the floppy fella if anybody can tell us exactly why it's hard.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

Maybe next time Jim you need to use a velvet cup

 

[jimhigham]

Technical point of order. For all those frantically hitting refresh, you can only post on NSC once every 60 seconds. Hence delay. That plus the fact that I love this ball bag.

 

[jimhigham]

(shuffle delve)

4 - The Hippopotamus. One of the big beasts...

 

[Munkfish]

Come on the Basset Hound!

 

[jimhigham]

(reach clack)

2 - the Salt Water Crocodile.

Oooooh, that's another killer of a tie. The drama of the knockout tournament. That's Hippo v Croc.

 

[jimhigham]

(click clack)

Number 8 - the Grasshopper Mouse. Highly fancied. Can it make round 3. Grasshopper Mouse versus...