Neil Broom's wonderful form shows no sign of abating with the punishing middle order batsman's latest effort helping Otago dispatch Wellington by six wickets in a rain-affected one-day match at the Queenstown Events Centre yesterday.
Fresh from two centuries in the Plunket Shield, Broom picked up where he left off, smashing a rollicking undefeated 61 to ensure Otago overhauled Wellington's total of 153 for seven.
Broom whacked four boundaries and two sixes in his 57-ball innings and had the pleasure of sharing in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 37 with his brother Darren Broom which helped seal the win.
Darren Broom was making his debut for the province and chipped in with 20 from 12 deliveries.
Otago captain Craig Cumming also made a valuable contribution scoring 34 off 24 deliveries but Neil Broom was the star once again.
Two weeks ago, Broom scored 196 in a four-day match against Central Districts and followed it up with another century against Wellington last week which helped the Volts clinch a nine-wicket win.
There was talk in the media Broom might get called in for the third test against Pakistan in Napier later this week.
But the selectors opted to make just the one change with BJ Watling replacing Peter Fulton in a dysfunctional top order.
Surely now, Broom is the next cab off the rank.
Poor weather reduced the 50-over match to 22 overs per side and Otago got lucky at the toss, wasting no time in inserting Wellington.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Chris Nevin smashed four boundaries to help get the visitors off to a promising start.
But Otago answered back with Warren McSkimming removing Cameron Merchant with a return catch and Mat Harvie nicking Nevin out.
BJ Crook and skipper Matthew Bell added 57 for the fourth-wicket and Stewart Rhodes top-scored with an undefeated innings of 33.
Anthony Bullick took two for 28 from five overs, and McSkimming two for 29 from four overs.
In Rangiora, an outstanding 150 from former international Michael Papps brought Canterbury surprisingly close to stealing a win against Central Districts, NZPA reported.
Instead, it fell 15 runs short after Central set a challenging 301 for nine after being sent in.
And in Auckland, the host's winless streak in national competitions continued into the one-day segment when Northern Districts beat it by two wickets.
Auckland, yet to score a win in four rounds of the Plunket Shield four-day competition, scored 264 for eight after it lost the toss and was sent in to bat.
Northern needed 49.2 overs to reach 265 for the loss of eight wickets.
