The match ended in a draw, with Canterbury on 285 for seven.
But with about 150 overs lost to poor weather, sporting declarations by Canterbury captain Kruger van Wyk and his Otago counterpart, Craig Cumming, made for an exciting final afternoon.
Canterbury resumed on 145 for five and took 12 overs to progress to 174 without further loss before declaring its first innings closed, handing Otago a lead of 178 runs.
Otago took the long handle and smashed 113 for five off just 17 overs.
Opener Hamish Rutherford scored his first runs in first-class cricket, slamming 31 off 23 balls including three fours and two sixes.
Shaun Haig and Neil Broom also produced brief cameos before Cumming closed the innings.
Canterbury was left needing to score 292 off 84 overs - about 3.5 runs per over.
Andrew Ellis set a solid foundation at first drop with a patient 71 scored off 165 balls.
His diligence gave those below him something on build on, and Shanan Stewart, in particular, threatened to see Canterbury home.
Needing 11 to win from eight balls, Stewart, who finished with an unbeaten 69 off 68 balls, could not complete the job.
Broom bowled a fantastic last over to prevent Canterbury winning.
He scored an unbeaten 140 in the first innings and drew praise from Otago coach Mike Hesson.
"He's started the first-class programme really nicely and looks in superb touch," Hesson said.
Broom batted for nearly five hours to score a half century in Otago's opening match against Northern Districts last week.
While he was in far from vintage form, the innings looks to have done him the world of good after a slow start in club cricket.
• The best efforts of BJ Watling were not enough to deny Central Districts outright points in in Hamilton yesterday.
The Northern Districts opener struck a defiant 111 in his team's second innings at Seddon Park but lacked support to stretch Central.
After dismissing the host team for 249, Central required 96 runs to pocket maximum points on the final afternoon.
It chased down the target for the loss of just two wickets to sit atop the championship standings after securing its second successive outright result following an earlier win over Auckland.
• A batsmen's paradise on the Eden Park outer oval contributed to the match between Auckland and Wellington ending in a draw yesterday.
After rain washed out the first day, 974 runs were scored with just 12 wickets falling in the three days remaining.
Wellington amassed 533 runs for five before declaring after lunch on the third day on Wednesday, while Auckland was 441 for seven in reply when stumps were pulled yesterday, 93 short of claiming first innings points.
