Otago will be playing for pride today after being eliminated from the twenty/20 playoffs last night without lifting a finger.
The Volts needed the Central Stags to lose both remaining games but the Stags beat Wellington last night and with it are too far ahead of Otago. So the Volts will be looking to do the double over the men from across the border today.
The side travels to Christchurch to take on the Canterbury Kings in the penultimate round of the Super Smash competition.
Otago beat Canterbury the first time the two sides met this year, at the University of Otago Oval just before Christmas.
Plenty of water has passed under the bridge since then, although it has been a season to forget for the men wearing red and black.
The Canterbury side has only recorded the one win, and that was thanks to the freakish bowling of Kyle Jamieson who took six wickets for seven runs in a victory over Auckland.
Apart from that the wins have been non-existent for a Canterbury team which did not perform that well in the 50-over game earlier this season.
The side has been farewelling some experienced campaigners over the past couple of seasons and others have simply not made the progress expected.
Otago will be all out for the win, as any victory over a side from Canterbury has to be celebrated.
The Volts went close last weekend against Wellington, and there was some tremendous hitting from openers Neil Broom and Hamish Rutherford.
Chasing 222, Otago was well placed at 111 for no wicket after just nine overs.
But the wickets soon went and the side came up short by 11 runs.
Coach Rob Walter said he could not be too disheartened about the performance, especially the openers.
"It was one of those days when it was good to just sit back and be a spectator. Just some of the hitting was fantastic. when Broomy gets going he can be great to watch," he said.
"There were huge positives to come out of the performance. But it was tough for our guys. You get one over where you get tied down and the run rate is up to something like 12. But we had played ourselves into a position where we could win the game through some outstanding batting.
"It’s the toughest gig though. Coming in when you have to score at something like 12 an over and no time to settle in."
Otago has made just one change to its side for this afternoon’s game. Spinner Michael Rippon returns to the side while overseas professional Ben Raine drops out.
With the number of overseas-based and non-qualified players in and around the Otago team, one must question the wisdom of bringing in a couple of English professionals who were never going to tear it up.
Otago has one game left in the regular season, taking on Northern Districts in Hamilton next Saturday.
Otago Volts v Canterbury Kings
Christchurch, today, 4pm
Volts: Neil Broom, Ben Cox, Jacob Duffy (co-captain), Josh Finnie, Shawn Hicks, Anaru Kitchen, Michael Rippon, Hamish Rutherford (co-captain), Nathan Smith, Josh Tasman-Jones, Christi Viljoen, Brad Wilson
Kings: Cole McConchie (captain), Jeremy Benton, Chad Bowes, Leo Carter, Andrew Ellis, Cam Fletcher, Kyle Jamieson, Tom MacRury, Steve Murdoch, Ed Nuttall, Henry Shipley, Will Williams.
