That hunt extends to Palmerston North today where the side will take on Central Districts in a Ford Trophy one-day match at Fitzherbert Park.
Wilson takes over as captain from Jimmy Neesham who is on national duty.
So, too, is Neil Broom. The duo have been replaced by Josh Finnie and Sean Eathorne. Otago will take on a Central Districts side which has not lost any players to the national side. The southerners know they need a more polished performance than they delivered against Northern Districts in Whangarei on Wednesday. They lost heavily, by 125 runs, as the batsmen failed to fire.
It is the story of the season as the team cannot put together a complete performance.
Coach Rob Walter said the side was travelling all right considering the time since it last won, which was before Christmas.
"We are going OK. It is tough when you are not winning. Everyone likes to win. But all you can do is prepare as well as you can and give yourselves the best chance you can to win the game," he said.
"You’ve just got to keep working, keep believing in yourself and that it will turn around at some point."
Walter said the side was one which did plenty of reviewing of games and looking at its performance. He said too often the focus was on the bad stuff but things could be learnt from whatever happened. Eight straight losses was what the side had to consider.
"But it is about now and getting out and performing. You can only talk so much. You’ve got to deliver on the field."
The competition is at its halfway stage. Walter said past evidence suggested to get into the playoffs teams had to win a minimum of three games. With four games left to play, Otago was not quite in must-win territory but it was not far away.Central Districts have not lost at Fitzherbert Park for three years.
The home side appears to have more strength in its batting, as its bowlers were carted to different parts of the ground as Auckland scored 392 for three wickets in its last game on Wednesday.
Central Districts did well to get to 202 in just over 33 overs before rain intervened.
The danger men are Black Caps batsman George Worker and big-hitting former Otago player Jesse Ryder.
Kieran Noema-Barnett, who grew up in Dunedin and attended Kavanagh College, is back in the Central Districts team. He is on contract with English county Gloucestershire and qualified as a local player in England through his father.
The forecast for Palmerston North is for morning cloud to clear. In other matches, Northern Districts will play Wellington in Whangarei, and Canterbury will meet Auckland in Rangiora.
Ford Trophy
Palmerston North, today
Otago: Brad Wilson (captain), Gregor Croudis, Josh Finnie, Ryan Duffy, Michael Bracewell, Aranu Kitchen, Derek de Boorder, Christi Viljoen, Nathan Smith, Jack Hunter, Sean Eathorne, Michael Rippon.
Central Districts: Will Young (captain), Jesse Ryder, George Worker, Tom Bruce, Dane Cleaver, Josh Clarkson, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Blair Tickner, Navin Patel, Liam Dudding, Ajaz Patel, Ben Smith
