Otago suffered the heartbreak of a final over defeat at McLean Park in Napier last night.
But the five run loss to Central Districts felt more comprehensive than the scoreboard suggested.
The home side put 166 for five on the board, which seemed short of a threatening target.
But the Volts slumped to 61 for five and fell too far behind. Brad Wilson, who had been pushed down the order to No 9, clouted 21 from 10 deliveries to give the visitors a chance to steal the game.
They needed 13 from the last six balls, but Ben Wheeler bowled Wilson with a yorker and held his nerve for the remainder of the over. Otago finished up on 161 for nine.
The early loss of Otago openers Anaru Kitchen and Hamish Rutherford put the pressure squarely on the shoulders of recalled Black Cap Neil Broom.
The seasoned campaigner has been at the top of his game for the past two seasons. But on 28 he was fooled by a change of pace and pushed a delivery from left arm spinner Marty Kain straight to Will Young.
Jimmy Neesham and Josh Finnie were left with the rescue mission. Finnie spent an over swinging hard without making a decent connection, and Neesham was struggling to find the gaps or time the ball at all well.
The Volts needed 55 from the last five overs and the charge home got harder when Finnie was bowled by a full toss from Seth Rance for 27.
Neesham holed out shortly after for 34 and his dismissal arguably sealed the Volts’ fate.
Earlier, Mahela Jayawardene made batting look easy when he shimmied to off and flicked a delivery from Warren Barnes over backward leg for six.Barnes had to wait until George Worker was on strike to get some reward. He speared in a 143kph yorker and knocked the batsman’s off stump out of the ground, which is always great to watch.
Neil Wagner almost struck moments later when Jayawardene was dropped in the covers by Michael Bracewell.
Otago bowled poorly during its first two matches, but Neesham and Bradley Scott put a lid on the run rate, keeping Jesse Ryder and Jayawardene relatively quiet.
The home side had preserved wickets, though, and after 10 overs was well-placed at 74 for one.Barnes returned for the 12th over and had a slice of luck, with Ryder hitting a full toss straight to Neesham at deep backward leg. Normally it would have sailed for six, but the robust left-hander got it high off the bat and was gone for 25.
Jayawardene (62) made the most of his life on 20 and had finessed his way to a half century before he opened up his stance and looked to find the fence at midwicket.
Anaru Kitchen took a two handed catch above his head on the edge of the boundary, much to the delight of Neesham, who was the pick of the Otago bowlers again with two for 24 from four overs.
Tom Bruce plundered three consecutive boundaries from the final over in a valuable cameo of 33 from 19 deliveries.
● In the earlier game, Henry Nicholls hammered an undefeated 67 from 31 deliveries and Tom Latham made 63 at the top of the innings to help Canterbury post 199 for four at the Basin Reserve.
That proved nine runs too many for Wellington, who reached 190 for four. Hamish Marshall top scored for the home team with 59 from 35.
