A dead rubber at the end of a disappointing campaign is the game no-one wants to play.
Publicly, Otago players are preparing as they normally would for their final twenty/20 round-robin match against Northern Districts in Hamilton today.
Privately, though, thoughts must have shifted to the one-day competition which will resume on January 26.
Otago is well placed in the 50-over format and the bowlers, in particular, will be looking forward to playing in a tournament where there is just a little bit more room for error.
The HRV Cup has been a brutal experience for one or two of Otago's valued assets. Notably, Neil Wagner's reputation has taken a blow.
Wagner has been the best performed four-day bowler in the country for the past two seasons but is not as potent with the white ball. In six games he conceded 181 runs at a shade more than 10 an over and was dropped from the squad.
He remains firmly in the frame for national selection, though, and has been included in a New Zealand XI which will play Zimbabwe in a three-day warm-up match in Gisborne beginning on Saturday.
The South African-born strike bowler will become eligible to play for New Zealand at the end of the summer.
Former Black Caps Aaron Redmond and Ian Butler also fell out of favour with the selectors. Redmond has had a lean run in all three formats of the game and his form must be of huge concern to coach Vaughn Johnson.
Redmond captains the one-day and four-day side and is one of the most experienced players in the squad. He is class player and has been a reliable contributor but is out of touch.
Butler lost his place after two disappointing games with the ball but has regained his spot after some promising form in the provincial A tournament.
He has been Otago's best performed one-day bowler and will be looking to make a strong return.
Wagner, Redmond and Butler have been the obvious casualties of a disappointing tournament which has seen Otago win just two games. But they are not the only players who have not been at their best.
Former Black Cap Neil Broom has scored a lot of runs for Otago but has struggled with the tempo of twenty/20 and looks a far more accomplished player in the longer formats.
He is a slow starter but he is certainly capable of catching up once he gets set. He demonstrated that in Timaru with a hard-hit 77 against Canterbury.
The problem is you cannot afford to use 20 deliveries getting your eye in the abbreviated game and there were times when he could have shuffled down the order to make room for players such as Nathan McCullum or Dimitri Mascarenhas.
McCullum, Mascarenhas and Nick Beard were the pick of the Otago bowlers. Beard went for two or three very expensive overs but generally did a good job of tying up an end.
Mascarenhas was not terribly successful in the wicket column but he was the most frugal of the Otago bowlers, and McCullum ticks all three boxes when it comes to twenty/20. He is an explosive batsman, quality spin bowler and excellent in the field.
His younger brother, Brendon, top-scored with 269 runs (33.62) at a strike rate of 132.51. He was the fourth leading scorer in the competition behind Martin Guptill, Rob Nicol and Azhar Mahmood. It was a good return but Brendon would have wanted to turn more of his starts into half centuries or even hundreds.
Craig Cumming was the next best but he was pushed down the order and robbed of opportunities.
All-rounder Jimmy Neesham was a mixed bag. He has great potential with the bat but took a terrible beating at the bowling crease.
Like Butler and Wagner, he will be looking forward to the resumption of the one-day competition, where he has been a star.
Volts v Knights
Hamilton, today, 5.30pm
Otago: Brendon McCullum (captain), Hamish Rutherford, Craig Cumming, Neil Broom, Nathan McCullum, Jimmy Neesham, Darren Broom, Derek de Boorder, Ian Butler, Nick Beard, Craig Smith, Jacob Duffy.
Northern Districts: Scott Styris, Graeme Aldridge, Trent Boult, Anton Devcich, Brett Hampton, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Peter McGlashan, Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson, Brad Wilson.
