Bowl first, chase later - that is Otago Volts coach Nathan King's plan tonight.
The Volts play the Auckland Aces in the domestic twenty20 preliminary final in New Plymouth tonight.
The winner advances straight to Sunday's final, while the loser will have to play Canterbury tomorrow to reach the decider.
King is expecting a low and slow wicket at Yarrow Stadium, the ground on which the Volts lost one of their three matches during the round robin.
The Volts scored 141 for eight batting first in the match early last month, a total the Central Stags chased down with four wickets and nine balls in hand.
King said his team had learnt from the loss, and wanted to bowl first if given the choice this weekend.
"The other thing that comes into play is the dew,'' he said.
"We found that out in our game. It was low and slow and turned a little bit in the first innings. But when that dew hits in the second innings, it's harder for the spinners to grip the ball.
"The ball comes on to the bat a little bit quicker, so it's more of a bowl first wicket where chasing in the second innings is a little bit easier.''
Otago qualified as the top seed for the finals, winning six of its nine completed games - last week's match against the Aces was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
However, one of its three losses was against the second-seeded Aces, who won a thriller in Auckland by a run a few weeks ago.
The Volts looked home and hosed chasing Auckland's 156 for nine, but a late flurry of wickets saw them fall short.
But King is concentrating on his own squad, which has grown to 13 after the inclusion of batsman Brad Wilson for the weekend.
After looking at the batting and bowling statistics in the competition, King said he was not surprised his team finished on top.
Four of the top seven wicket-takers in the competition - Jacob Duffy (15), Nathan McCullum (12), Warren Barnes (12) and Sam Wells (11) - are Volts. Three batsmen - Neil Broom (282 runs), Michael Bracewell (273) and Anaru Kitchen (214) - are among the top nine run-scorers.
"We spoke about that at the start of the competition,'' King said.
"If you want to win the competition, you have to have the best individuals. Cricket's a funny game. It's obviously a team game, but sometimes it's significant individual performances are what can win you games and competitions.
"We've got bowlers at the very top dominating in terms of wickets and economy rates, and we've also got three batsmen that are up there in the top 10.
"It is no wonder we're at the top of the table.''
The Volts arrived in New Plymouth on Wednesday, before holding their first and only training session before tonight's game yesterday.
The loser of tonight's game will play Canterbury at 7.10pm tomorrow, while the final is at 7.10pm on Sunday.
Twenty20 competition
Otago's road to the final
Nov 5: v Central, New Plymouth, won by five wickets
Nov 7: v Central, New Plymouth, lost by four wickets
Nov 12: v Canterbury, Christchurch, won by nine wickets
Nov 15: v Wellington, Dunedin, won by seven wickets
Nov 17: v Northern, Dunedin, won by eight wickets
Nov 22: v Auckland, Auckland, lost by one run
Nov 25: v Wellington, Wellington, won by 19 runs
Nov 29: v Canterbury, Dunedin, lost by 23 runs
Dec 6: v Northern, Mt Maunganui, won by 56 runs
Played nine, won six, lost three, one rained out. Qualified top
Otago v Auckland
New Plymouth, tonight, 7.10pm
Otago: Hamish Rutherford, Anaru Kitchen, Neil Broom, Michael Bracewell, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan McCullum (captain), Derek de Boorder, Sam Wells, Bradley Scott, Jacob Duffy, Warren Barnes, Josh Finnie, Brad Wilson
Auckland: Jeet Raval, Brad Cachopa, Rob Nichol (captain), Colin Munro, Colin de Grandhomme, Donovan Grobbelaar, Robbie O'Donnell, Tarun Nethula, James Fuller, Michael Bates, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lockie Ferguson, Shawn Hicks.
