The Volts have started the Plunket Shield with a flurry of runs against Wellington at the Basin Reserve.
They were 428 for four at stumps on day one yesterday.
Openers Jacob Cumming and Jack Boyle both posted centuries and teamed up in an Otago record first-wicket stand against Wellington.
But the best was still to come.
Debutant Tom Jones — the grandson of former New Zealand all-rounder Jeremy Coney — came in and blasted 119.
He took the long handle to the Wellington bowlers.
The 19-year-old swivelled into a series of pull shots and kept the throttle down.
He swatted absolutely everything short to the rope. Ball after ball, same result.
The New Zealand under-19 representative moved through to 99 with a lofted shot down the ground off veteran leg spinner Peter Younghusband.
The right-hander then squeezed a boundary behind point off the bowling of Nick Greenwood to bring up the milestone.
He took 89 balls to reach the mark. It was his fastest hundred at any level.
"I got quite emotional out there, actually — a bit choked up," Jones said.
"I let out a big roar.
"It was a very, very special moment. It was one I won’t forget in a long time, that’s for sure."
Jones was nervous before the match, but the big partnership from Cumming and Boyle helped ease the nerves.
The opening pair added 210, which eclipsed the previous mark of 193 set by Mark Richardson and Matt Horne against Wellington at the Basin Reserve in 2000-01.
For Cumming, it was his maiden first-class hundred. His fine knock of 113 came 13 years after his father, Craig, scored the last of his 21 centuries for the province.
Boyle (156) had previously reached the mark twice before, but this was his first for Otago, having transferred from Central Districts this summer.
It was the first time three players had scored a hundred in an innings for Otago since November 2021, when Hamish Rutherford (144), Mitch Renwick (107) and Nick Kelly (234) clobbered tons against Central Districts at the University Oval.
Boyle and Jones joined a group of 11 others who all scored a hundred on their first-class debut for Otago.
Wellington learned the hard way that you cannot bowl at Cumming’s pads. The left-hander was brutal on anything too straight or drifting towards leg.
James Hartshorn watched as Cumming flicked two of his deliveries over the rope.
Anything wide of off stump got rough treatments as well.
He employed the sweep shot to score more runs, although ultimately it proved his undoing.
Cumming brought up his hundred with a crushing cut shot. He was the aggressor in the partnership, and his strike rate of 72 helped Otago build a solid platform rapidly.
Boyle was more patient, but played some glorious shots down the ground.
He squeezed a delivery from Younghusband through cover to bring up his third first-class hundred.
Boyle picked on Younghusband a tad. He dispatched two lovely sixes down the ground and another over midwicket.
His fine knock came to an end when Greenwood slipped a delivery past his defence.
The wicket was hard to reconcile with the rest of the play.
It was out of place — like an ice cream in a fruit bowl.
Did someone say Jelly Tip?
Next minute, Jones was out. He got a nick and wicketkeeper Tom Blundell made a sharp catch up at the stumps.
And Glenn Phillips, who spent a long time padded up and waiting to bat, was dismissed for six.
Thorn Parkes (14 not out) and nightwatchman Jarrod McKay (eight not out) will resume this morning.
In the other games, Northern Districts were rolled for 237 and Canterbury are 44 for one in Rangiora, while Auckland is 393 for seven in their match with Central Districts in Palmerston North. Lachie Stackpole thrashed 148 from 112 balls.
OTAGO
First innings
J Boyle b Greenwood 156
J Cumming lbw Younghusband 113
T Jones c Blundell b Greenwood 119
T Parkes not out 14
G Phillips c Tashkoff b Greenwood 6
J McKay not out 8
Extras (5lb, 2w, 5nb) 12
Total (for 4 wkts, 97 overs) 428
Fall: 1-210, 2-393, 3-403, 4-419
Bowling: L Dudding 17-3-46-0, J Hartshorn 19-0-80-0, M Snedden 16-1-68-0 (5nb, 2w), P Younghusband 22-0-108-1, N Greenwood 11-1-40-3, T Robinson 6-0-46-0, J Tashkoff 4-0-23-0, G Severin 2-0-12-0.
