Twenty/20 is not always decided by big hits. Sometimes it comes down to a few measly centimetres.
Otago all-rounder Ian Butler could whack the lump out of a slab of concrete and he belted a rapid 46 to help his side post 168 for seven in its must-win HRV Cup match against Canterbury at the Village Green last night.
And he came within a few inches of smacking a sixth six and raising what would have been a 20-ball half century off the last ball of the innings. But Netherlands international Ryan ten Doeschate intervened with some athletic fielding on the long-on boundary.
The South African-born all-rounder leaped high and took a sharp catch but had to parry the ball back in field before tumbling over the boundary rope.
It robbed Butler of the milestone and saved Canterbury five runs. A flash of brilliance and it is moments like that which often add up to make the difference. Canterbury pieced together more of those moments.
Rob Nicol anchored Canterbury's chase with a superb innings of 75 to help his side to a six-wicket win, and ten Doeschate had a good day taking two for 29 from four overs and crashing an undefeated 45 from 25 deliveries.
But before the pair took the game away from Otago with a fine partnership of 72, the Volts came within a centimetre or two of securing a crucial breakthrough. Nicol whacked a shot out to midwicket which Brendon McCullum did his best to get his hands under.
It failed to carry by a smidgen. Had Nicol been dismissed it may have turned the match Otago's way or maybe not. Who knows? But what happened after that is pretty clear.
Canterbury let loose.
The 14th over cost Otago 19 runs and the 15th was just as expensive with 15 runs coming off it. Suddenly, a tight match was a forgone conclusion with Canterbury cruising to its third victory in four matches.
The home side looks well-placed to push on and reach the final but Otago's hopes are over.
It was the Volts' fifth consecutive loss and they have nothing left to play for but pride. It is far too early in the tournament to have to face up to that indignity but that is the reality for Otago.
The Volts have had too many of those other moments - the dropped catches, the sloppy fielding, the dithering starts and the soft dismissals.
It is not much of an up side but Otago appears to be improving.
The Volts took a spell from their habit of making sluggish starts with Brendon McCullum kick starting the innings with a breezy cameo of 21. He combined with Aaron Redmond in a promising opening stand of 42.
But for once his trademark suicide scoop let him down. Having helped pummel South African Johan van der Wath's first two overs in the HRV Cup for 32 runs, he was bowled by Andrew Ellis attempting to flick the ball over the keeper. Craig Cumming made a mess of the same shot three overs later.
It has been a productive shot for McCullum during the past few seasons, but when a batsman gets it wrong it is an ugly sight.
With new batsmen coming and going, Redmond, who had been striking the ball quite well, was deprived of the strike and Canterbury was able to peg back the run rate.
While Redmond has had little trouble finding the middle of the bat in this tournament, he has not made many friends in the dressing room with his track record of running out his team-mates. He has sold Hamish Rutherford short twice and may have added Nathan McCullum to the list. An inquiry is probably needed but McCullum started, stopped, turned back and started again. Not good.
What was a tight single was not close in the end with McCullum run out by half the length of the pitch.
Redmond raised his second 50 of the season with a top edge down to the fine leg boundary but could not go on with what was a pretty good innings of 55.
