Volts seamer Danru Ferns clobbered 41 from 23 balls in a late bid to snatch the win from Central Districts at the University Oval yesterday. But it was to no avail, the home side being bowled out for 226 in the 48th over, an agonising seven runs short of their target.
The Volts got bogged down in their modest chase in seamer-friendly conditions, slipping to a third consecutive loss in the Ford Trophy.
This was another chase well within their grasp. They restricted a power-packed Central Districts batting lineup to 233 for eight.
But Stags all-rounder Josh Clarkson, who looks to have added a yard of pace, got the ball to hoop around and claimed three for 23 in an impressive 10-over spell.
Black Caps hero Blair Tickner was a handful as well.
Between the pair of them, they bowled five maidens and kept Otago tied down.
Troy Johnson smashed three sixes off the 35th over to inject some momentum.
But Clarkson trapped him lbw for 50 in his last over to tip the balance firmly in favour of the visitors.
Ferns almost bailed out his side with some heavy hitting.
Two more solid connections would have been enough, but he dragged a delivery on to his stumps in the penultimate over.
Otago coach Josh Tasman-Jones summed it up perfectly.
"You'd back yourself to chase 230-odd any day of the week with the belief we have in our batting lineup," he said.
"We just needed one of those boys to get a big score and we're there easily. So yeah, definitely a gettable score."
The Volts snagged three wickets in the first 15 overs.
But the old firm of Tom Bruce and Dane Cleaver, who have accumulated close to 200 list A games between them, fought back.
Cleaver blasted a couple of deliveries from Jarrod McKay over extra cover and down to the boundary. He also dispatched an exquisite on-drive.
He sent the ball over the rope at deep square leg.
Bruce was warming into his innings as well. He slapped a couple of fours through mid-wicket and charged down the pitch to greet a delivery from Luke Georgeson. That went speeding towards the long-off boundary.
Left-arm spinner Ben Lockrose got the same treatment, but this time the ball sailed over the rope on the full.
Cleaver mis-timed a full delivery from Lockrose on 31 and Llew Johnson nabbed a fine catch.
But Bruce was in the mood. He crashed a delivery from Ferns into the sightscreen. The thud could be felt in St Kilda.
Then he got a little lazy with a back foot push and chopped on for 72.
McKay got collared by Cleaver but was otherwise on target and was rewarded with three for 39.
Otago’s chase was a slow burn.
There were a couple of turning points: Thorn Parkes made an error on 32 and Max Chu had his promising innings of 31 cut off by a wonderful catch by Dean Foxcroft at point.
But Johnson’s departure left the tail with just too much to do.
In the other games, Wellington posted a three-wicket win against Northern Districts in Hamilton. Tim Robinson banged 113.
Canterbury, who posted 337 for eight, held off Auckland, who fought back from 135 for seven to reach 316 for nine.
CENTRAL DISTRICTS
B Schmulian c Todd b McKay 17
W Young c Ferns b Georgeson 2
D Foxcroft lbw Ferns 8
T Bruce b McKay 72
D Cleaver c L Johnson b Lockrose 31
J Clarkson c L Johnson b Bacon 21
W Clark c Ferns b McKay 17
T Findlay c Parkes b Lockrose 17
J Lennox not out 23
B Tickner not out 8
Extras (4lb, 13w) 17
Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 233
Fall: 1-10, 2-20, 3-46, 4-106, 5-144, 6-172, 7-194, 8-212
Bowling: D Ferns 10-0-62-1 (5w), L Georgeson 10-0-37-1 (2w), J McKay 10-1-39-3 (2w), M Bacon 10-1-44-1 (3w), B Lockrose 10-0-47-2 (1w).
OTAGO
J Boyle c Young b Tickner 16
J Todd c Cleaver b Toole 0
T Parkes cYoung b Lennox 32
M Chu c Foxcroft b Findlay 31
L Johnson c Cleaver b Clarkson 26
T Johnson lbw Clarkson 50
L Georgeson c Cleaver b Clarkson 2
B Lockrose c Cleaver b Findlay 6
D Ferns b Toole 41
M Bacon b Lennox 8
J McKay not out 0
Extras (4lb, 10w) 14
Total (all out, 48.1 overs) 226
Fall: 1-3, 2-35, 3-69, 4-96, 5-159, 6-167, 7-168, 8-177, 9-226
Bowling: J Clarkson 10-3-23-3 (3w), R Toole 6.1-0-24-2 (1w), B Tickner 10-2-44-1 (3w), T Findlay 9-0-50-2 (2w), W Clark 2-0-17-0 (1w), J Lennox 10-0-46-2, B Schmulian 1-0-18-0.
Result: Central Districts won by seven runs.
