The side set a record total when it made 407 for four wickets from its 50 overs at the University of Otago Oval. It then dismissed Central Districts for 282 and notched up a 125-run win and a bonus point victory. The win moves it up to third on the Ford Trophy table.
The win was set up by some spectacular batting.
It was the highest score recorded by Otago in a one-day game, easily eclipsing the 371 for seven the side racked up in a losing effort in Timaru in the 2009-10 season.
It was the third-highest score set by a first-class side in a domestic one-day game in this country. Central Districts’ total of 417 for six in 2012-13 is still the highest score.
Hamish Rutherford’s score of 155 was the third-highest score in one-day cricket for Otago.
The 189-run opening partnership he shared with Mitch Renwick was a record for the first wicket for Otago against any province.
Rutherford scored at a breath-taking pace and brought up his century in 71 balls and was powerful all round the field.
Captaining the side, he was eventually out in just the 30th over.
He said afterwards the performance of the side was just a continuation of the way it had played in the twenty20 competition.
"With the bat I think we showed how dangerous we can be. In the twenty20s we were pretty ruthless and put some good attacks under the pump. We just brought that in from the start with the bat," he said.
"And again with the ball we just scrapped and with 400 on the ball it is always going to be tough for them to chase."
The bonus point victory was a good boost for Otago, putting it back into the equation in what is a tight competition.
Rutherford said it was nice to contribute with the bat and build on some good efforts in the twenty20 competition. He never thought about getting to 200 — was simply batting every ball — and got a bit tired towards the end of his innings.
Rutherford had been performing well this season but he said that did not come down to anything special. It was just getting more experience, learning more about his game and knowing what to do to get the most out of his ability.
He had been passed over for the current New Zealand A side in matches against India A.
"I thought I would be in the mix but they went another way and yeah, that was disappointing. But if I keep putting out performances like this and the A team is not really the issue but the top team I want to be playing for ... At the end of the day I can’t do much more."
Once Rutherford was dismissed the good work was continued by Neil Broom and Nick Kelly, while Dean Foxcroft and Nathan Smith came together at the end to get the side past the 400-run mark.
Central managed to get 282 but someone in its top four had to score a massive century and no-one did. Will Young was back for his side after nine months out with shoulder surgery and he scored a classy 62 but once he went it was all but over. Anaru Kitchen picked up four wickets with some sharp catching off his bowling. These two sides meet again on Wednesday in Nelson.
In other games, Northern Districts won by one wicket over Wellington in the capital. Canterbury beat Auckland by four runs in Auckland.
