But it almost unravelled in the second half as Northern Districts provided a pulsating finish at the University Oval.
The visiting side needed 18 runs from the final over and Scott Kuggeleijn put the fear of God into the home crowd of about 600 when he smashed a four and six from the first two deliveries.
But then the unexpected happened. Mitchell Santner got himself run out and Kuggeleijn perished in the same fashion desperately trying to get back for a second to keep the strike.
Northern needed a further seven runs from two deliveries but it was the bowler who picked that time to shine. Jimmy Neesham bowled Zak Gibson with a cracker and that was it. Ish Sodhi edged the final delivery down to the boundary to bring his side's innings to a close at 175 for nine.
Kuggeleijn was in the action early on. He grasped a return catch from the leading edge of Hamish Rutherford's bat from just the second ball of the match.
The Volts quickly put the hiccup behind them with Anaru Kitchen and Neil Broom swinging for the boundary and clearing it often.
Otago raced to 53 for one after five overs. Poor balls take wickets and that summed up Kitchen's dismissal for 27. He skied a full toss which should have been deposited over the rope.
New batsman Michael Bracewell went the aerial route as well, thrashing three sixes from his first six deliveries.
Six No4 cleared the tents on top of the Eastern embankment. Attempt No5 was intercepted on the boundary but not before Bracewell had whacked 34 from 14 deliveries.
Meanwhile, Broom had quietly crept into the 40s and he brought up his 50 with a crunching drive which smashed into the foot of Kuggeleijn.
He eventually holed out for 57 from 35 deliveries with Otago striking at more than 11 runs an over.
Neesham finished off with some brutal power, slapping five sixes in an undefeated 42 from 16 deliveries.
But Otago gifted Northern a good start to its reply when Warren Barnes bowled a nine-ball over and conceded 20 runs. Then Jacob Duffy got hit for 23 runs from his first over, leaving Northern 49 for none after just three overs.
Neesham secured the initial breakthrough when Joe Carter advanced and hit the ball straight up in the air.
But Dean Brownlie was playing a masterful hand down the other end.
He scored 50 in the wink of an eye and, even more importantly, from just 24 balls. But on 52 he found a way to get out, swinging a full toss from Neil Wagner to the man on the boundary at midwicket.
Josh Finnie's introduction into the attack brought a flurry of action. Corey Anderson took the long handle to the offspinner, hitting him for three consecutive sixes.
The second, though, was parried over the boundary by Barnes. It was a tough chance at long off, but the type of catch you have to hold when one of the most powerful hitters in world cricket is starting to wind up.
Barnes redeemed himself when he removed the dangerous left-hander for a hard-hit 30 off 11 in the 10th over. Ironically, it was Finnie who took the catch.
It was only in the final stages of the match the required run rate appeared to have slipped out of reach for Northern.
Barnes took two wickets in the penultimate over leaving Northern needing 18 to win. That seemed unlikely, then likely, then unlikely again. Funny game, cricket.
