Either that or it was deja vu.
Twenty-one-year-old Otago left-armer Thomas O’Connor has punched through the top of the Auckland batting lineup — again.
He snaffled seven for 58 on Monday and yesterday evening he grabbed four for 12 in an extraordinary spell at Eden Park Outer Oval.
O’Connor has 11 wickets for 70 in the match and there are still six Auckland wickets up for grabs.
All that and it is just his fourth first-class game.
Perhaps we should not be surprised by his rapid rise. He has, after all, had access to quality coaching his whole life.
His father is former Black Caps and Otago left-armer Shayne O’Connor, who took 53 test wickets and 46 ODI wickets for New Zealand.
They look a lot alike out there, too.
Thomas has a sturdier build, but he has his father’s ability to bend the ball.
But he put the bumper to good use yesterday to account for Sean Solia and Adi Ashok.
Dale Phillips was done by a full delivery, which trapped him lbw, while Ryan Harrison got an edge.
Auckland are 24 for four and need a further 91 runs to make Otago bat again.
They are toast, whereas O’Connor is the toast of Otago.
He was not alone in his heroics.
Danru Ferns punched the air lightly as he scampered back for a third run. The Otago No11 had just helped Max Chu get through to a fourth first-class hundred and celebrated like it was his own.
The pace bowler had earned the moment.
Chu had done the bulk of the work. His knock of 104 formed the backbone of Otago’s tally of 343.
They rolled Auckland for 228 on the opening day and pushed on from 70 for one at stumps yesterday to post a lead of 115.
A good chunk of Otago’s first innings lead would not have been possible without Ferns, who added 25 not out from 50 balls while Chu brought up the milestone at the other end.
The pair added 71 from 87 balls for the final wicket.
It was a painful partnership from Auckland’s perspective.
O’Connor rammed home the advantage. He removed the dangerous Phillips for three.
Ashok was asked to be the nightwatchman and was quickly sent packing with a rising delivery that caught the shoulder of the bat.
Solia got a brute of a ball and gloved it through to the wicketkeeper.
And Harrison got squared up and was caught in the slips by Jacob Cumming.
O’Connor had a great day. Chu had a pretty good day as well.
He has been one of the best Otago batters in the first-class competition this summer.
He plundered the square boundaries. He was quick to swivel into a pull shot or cut the ball if the bowler dropped short. Anything full from the spinners got swept.
In the other game, Wellington are 50 for one in reply to Canterbury’s tally of 336.
Muhammad Abbas nabbed five for 69 for Wellington, while Matt Boyle top-scored for Canterbury with 97.
AUCKLAND
First inninmgs 228
OTAGO
First innings
J Boyle c Fletcher b Harrison 45
J Cumming b Gulati 33
J McKay c Jacobs b Keene 4
T Jones c Jacobs b Gulati 49
T Parkes c Fletcher b Harrison 19
T Johnson c Jacobs b Harrison 0
L Georgeson c Phillips b Lister 15
M Chu c Fletcher b Gulati 104
B Lockrose c & b Keene 9
T O'Connor b Keene 9
D Ferns not out 25
Extras (16b, 12lb, 3wd) 31
Total (all out, 102 overs) 343
Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-86, 3-104, 4-132, 5-136, 6-158, 7-210, 8-256, 9-272.
Bowling: Ben Lister 18.03-48-1, Simon Keene 19-1-79-3 (1wd), R Harrison 16-5-54-3 (1wd), R Gulati 31-7-66-3, Adi Ashok 18-1-68-0.
3.78.
AUCKLAND
Second innings
D Phillips lbw O'Connor 3
S Solia c Chu b O'Connor 3
A Ashok c Georgeson b O'Connor 9
H Kannan not out 6
R Harrison c Cumming b O'Connor 1
B Jacobs not out 0
Extras (1lb, 1nb) 2
Total (for four wkts, 14 overs) 24
Bowling: Luke Georgeson 4-1-10-0 (1nb), T O'Connor 7-2-12-4, Danru Ferns 3-0-2-1.
Fall: 1-3, 2-16, 3-17.
