In gloomy conditions, with the home side needing five runs off the last ball, the wicketkeeper-batsman swung a delivery from Graham Napier over the square leg boundary for six to the delight of the 515-strong crowd.
It was a terrific finish to fantastic game which could have gone either way. De Boorder played the ultimate cameo - six runs from one ball - but the match was dominated by the duel between two giants of New Zealand cricket, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum.
The last time the pair went head-to-head in New Zealand it was for the captaincy of the national side. Taylor emerged victorious from the presidential-style show down and he scored all the early points in the rematch yesterday.
He blasted 95 from 49 deliveries to help the visitor reach 158 for seven. But McCullum replied with a gutsy 79 from 63 to help set up the win for the Volts.
Both batsmen had a little bit of luck. Taylor was dropped in his 30s at deep midwicket by Neil Broom and went on to punish the Otago bowling. He was particularly brutal on Ian Butler, flogging the former international for three consecutive sixes in the penultimate over.
Jimmy Neesham knew exactly how Butler felt, as he had endured the same treatment a couple of overs earlier. Central Districts rattled on 67 runs from the last five overs after recovering from 38 for three.
Butler eventually captured Taylor's wicket when he mistimed a shot and spooned a catch to Aaron Redmond. But it was a Pyrrhic victory, as Butler conceded 23 runs from the over and 53 runs from his allotment of four. He did pick up three wickets to help balance the equation, though.
Peter Ingram was the next leading scorer for Central with 22, as Taylor singled-handedly pulled his side through to a competitive total.
Nick Beard was the pick of the Otago bowlers, with one for 17 and he also grabbed two sharp catches.
Nathan McCullum was probably a bit dark with his captain, brother Brendon. The off spinner had Taylor dropped off his bowling, took one for eight from a two-over spell and was not required again.
Brendon McCullum's innings was not the most fluent the aggressive opener has ever played but there was a lot to admire about it.
The 30-year-old was struck by a Brett Lee bouncer while playing in the Australian twenty/20 competition on Friday and needed five stitches. He had to deal with some short deliveries from Michael Mason and New Zealand team mate Doug Bracewell early in his innings, as the bowlers tested his mettle.
But he is a gutsy player and dealt with each ball on its merit. He should have been dismissed on 16 when he drilled a pull shot directly to Ingram on the square leg boundary. The ball whistled through the air and punched its way through Ingram's cupped hands and over the rope for six. It was a tough catch, but one which should be taken at this level.
McCullum gradually got into his stride and his partnership with Craig Cumming (21) posted 73 for the third wicket.
Central kept the pressure on, picking up Nathan McCullum's wicket cheaply. But Neesham came in and calmly swatted Tarun Nethula for two sixes in his first four deliveries.
Otago needed 10 off the last over and, when Dimitri Mascarenhas holed out from the first ball, it looked as though it was not going to be the Volts' day. Neesham took five runs off the next four deliveries, leaving de Boorder to supply the coup de grace.
