Berth in final tribute to Otago’s resilience
IF it all starts to go horribly wrong Otago will know just what to do.
Stay calm. Stay in the moment. Stay in the contest.
Easier said than done but the Volts have built up some resilience.
They clawed their way into the oneday final against Auckland at Eden Park Outer Oval tomorrow with a series of clutch results.
Two weeks ago, their playoff prospects were one tug away from unravelling completely.
They needed to beat the top two sides to stay in contention. They defended well against Canterbury and then smashed Auckland by 210 runs.
Thursday’s elimination final against Canterbury at Hagley
Oval did not go to script. There were plenty of crossed fingers and holding of breath during the final few overs.
There was also a flurry of wickets. The Volts took five in the last four overs to secure an unlikely sixrun win.
It was a victory for tenacity as much as anything else. It was also another nod in the direction of the blueprint.
The Volts have won six of the seven games in which they have batted first.
So while Otago’s impressive top order has soaked up most of the accolades, it has been the
Volts’ underrated bowling attack which has had to finish the matches.
Seamers Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith have been in good rhythm and were superb in the elimination final with three wickets apiece.
‘‘I think this will go a long way to reminding people that they have actually closed out games a number of times now,’’ Volts coach Rob Walter said.
‘‘They are starting to really understand that role. It can be a thankless task [bowling at the end of a game]. It is the toughest job in the game and they manage to keep delivering which is awesome.’’
The Volts have yet to win a game when chasing a total. But Walter is confident his side can win when called on to bat second.
‘‘I think it is the way we do it better because we have just done it more. And to get to the playoffs we had to go to our strong suit, so that is why we have batted first.
‘‘But with the quality of our batting lineup and the depth of it, we have to back ourself chasing.’’
Otago has not made any changes from the squad which fronted for the elimination final, while Auckland is expected to welcome back Black Caps Martin Guptill, Glenn Phillips, Kyle Jamieson and Mark Chapman.
The home team can also call on Colin Munro and Lockie Ferguson, so it has a formidable lineup.
NORTH Otago will play its final qualifying game in the southern zone of the Hawke Cup when it meets Southland at Whitestone Contracting Stadium in Oamaru this weekend.
The home side sits at the top of the points table on 25 points, nine ahead of Otago Country, which this weekend meets South Canterbury in Timaru.
Southland, playing its penul
timate game this weekend, is lying third with 12 points, ahead of South Canterbury (10) and Mid Canterbury (5), both of which have a game in hand.
This weekend, Hawke Cup holder Hamilton will face challenger Hawke’s Bay.
North Otago has held the Hawke Cup twice.
It beat holder Manawatu in the 201011 season and, five seasons later, brought the cup home from Buller.
This season, North Otago beat Otago Country on the first innings in Alexandra.
At Aorangi Park, in Timaru, it defeated Mid Canterbury, first taking firstinnings points and then dismissing Mid Canterbury in its second innings to win outright.
Southland, in its two games, has had a win and a loss.
Secondplaced Otago Country has had one win and three drawn games.
Last time out, in a rainaffected two days, North Otago produced a strong finish against South Canterbury.
Play started on the second day at 6pm with 18 overs to be bowled.
The North Otago top order was back in the club house but youngsters Llew Johnson and Tom Dempster came together with the innings teetering at 45 for five.
They produced an unbeaten sixthwicket stand of 70, guiding North Otago to 115 for five and forcing a draw.
An outright win by either side this weekend will put it in a good place to challenge for the cup.
Canterbury Country or Marlborough will challenge for the cup next, from zone three and the qualifying team from the South will have the last challenge.