Otago is into the final of the domestic twenty20 competition thanks to the Taranaki rain.
The Volts progressed tomorrow night's final after last night's preliminary final was abandoned because of rain.
It was justice for the Volts, who had qualified top of the table, yet had got no real reward for finishing first on the ladder.
The rules state the top qualifier goes into the final if the game is washed out.
The weather had been fine in New Plymouth for much of the day but had clouded over in the afternoon.
After Auckland had won the toss and sent Otago in, it started raining lightly about halfway through the Otago innings.
The Volts managed to get through to 165 for five wickets off its 20 overs - thanks to a nice knock from Hamish Rutherford - but the rain really started to fall as Auckland got ready to bat.
The covers went on and never came off as the weather got markedly worse.
Auckland would now face Canterbury tonight to decide who faces the Volts.
Ominiously, drizzle and showers are forecast for today in New Plymouth and tomorrow is none too promising either - rain and showers.
Throw in a crowd which would have barely made it into triple figures and one could hardly say with any conviction this was the showpiece of the domestic game.
The sooner the competition is switched to smaller grounds in the holiday season the better.
Otago captain Nathan McCullum said after the game it was a disappointing way for the game to end but he was pleased with the way his side had performed.
"We showed some real composure out there and that just shows the consistency we have had right throughout the whole tournament,'' he said.
"It's nice to get through now and I'm not sure what we are going to do tomorrow [Saturday].''
McCullum said he did not prefer which side Otago faced in the final.
Otago may not train today, although it may be beneficial to have a run as the players have not spent any time in the field for a week by the time tomorrow night's game comes around.
Rutherford had set up the Otago total with a classy knock and was unlucky not to join a small group of players who had made a century in a domestic twenty20 match.
The left-hander ended up unbeaten on 91, off 66 balls, and played a gem of an innings, hitting the bad ball to the boundary and just being patient when the good ball came along.
He started quite slowly and was struggling a tad with his timing.
But he slowly climbed into his work and a nicely worked six over mid wicket into the very empty grandstand off leg-spinner Tarun Nethula was the launching pad for the left-hander and he rocketed through the final few overs.
Unfortunately he did not get enough of the strike in the final dozen balls to get to three figures but it was still a classy knock.
Anaru Kitchen had helped get Otago off to a good start but he went out in the third over bringing Neil Broom to the crease.
Broom, followed by Michael Bracewell, helped Rutherford through to 120 after 16 overs and the side managed to score 45 off the final four overs which was impressive.
Rutherford pushed hard all night and his shots square of the wicket showed plenty of power.
Though 165 was not the highest score Otago had ever racked up it was always going to be a tough road for the Auckland side, especially on a wicket which was low and slow at times.
But it became a case of what might have been as the heavens opened and Auckland never got a chance to mount a challenge.
