ROUND 9 of 10
OTAGO VOLTS defeated NORTHERN DISTRICTS by six wickets - bonus point win
14 February 2024
Sir John Davies Oval, Queenstown
Points: Otago Volts 5, Northern Districts 0
SELECTED MILESTONES
- Jacob Duffy 150 List A wickets
- Henry Cooper: 50th List A match
With the Otago Volts looking to continue an exciting late charge into Ford Trophy contention, this match against Ford Trophy leader Northern Districts shaped as a must-see.
It's not cricket in Queenstown without a plane pic | PHOTOSPORT
ND had some disruption in the lead-up to the Queenstown showdown, losing keeper Pete Bocock to illness on the morning of the game.
That led to coach BJ Watling officially carrying the drinks as 12th, while captain Jeet Raval moved up to open, and Henry Cooper took over the wicketkeeping gloves on a fine but windy Central Otago day.
ND captain Raval | PHOTOSPORT
That would have to wait as Volts captain Dean Foxcroft won the toss and bowled first, and his electric opening attack of Jacob Duffy and Andrew Hazeldine made a fine start.
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Duffy (3/32) struck in his second over to have ND 1/1, Katene Clarke gone; while form quick Hazeldine conceded just three runs off his first three overs to keep ND on edge.
The northerners began to pick off some runs at last with both Cooper and Raval finding the boundary, but a double change brought another breakthrough.
Luke Georgeson had come on with Matt Bacon and struck with his very first delivery in the 11th over, Cooper caught at 26/2.
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It was a wicket maiden for Georgeson and the man who had scored a big century a week ago was gone.
Fresh off his first bag for the Volts in the previous match in Dunedin, Georgeson struck another big blow by removing Joe Carter in his next over, and suddenly ND was under some early pressure at 32/2 after 13.
Pete Drysdale | PHOTOSPORT
Veterans Raval and Pete Drysdale (28) needed a partnership. They put on 76 for the fourth wicket, but when Bacon broke it in the 31st over, the momentum was soon lost again.
Brett Hampton had put on 40 with his captain but was caught behind off spinner Ben Lockrose after a quick 25.
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The Volts managed to snaffle another two quick wickets in the space of seven deliveries - including the key man Raval, who played on to Duffy on 78.
Duffy struck twice in the over and when Matt Fisher was lost a few overs later ND was in a pickle at 158/8 in the 42nd over.
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Leader Northern would not make it to the end of the allotted 50 overs, but the tail added some niggly runs to make the Volts work for it.
Andrew Hazeldine eventually finished it off with 11 balls remaining unutilised by ND who were all out for 184.
That left fewer than four runs per over for the Volts to tick off to continue their barnstorming run home.
By the 20-over mark of the chase, they were 82/3, having lost Georgeson, captain Foxcroft and Jacob Cumming, but from there they needed barely 100 runs, still at fewer than four an over and the prospect of a handy bonus point dangling as well.
Northern quick Matt Fisher, at first change, had blasted out all three wickets, Henry Cooper taking two catches with the gloves in the 16th over to assist.
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That brought together two new men at the crease in Dale Phillips and Thorn Parkes, and ND needed to keep making quick breakthroughs to haul themselves back into the contest, as Queenstown continued to turn on a cracker of an afternoon.
NZ Under 19 World Cup paceman Ewald Schreuder, in his second appearance for ND, soon bowled Phillips at 96/4, but Parkes got going with Llew Johnson. They had 20 overs to get 50-odd runs.
They'd fashioned a fifty-stand by the 35-over mark, and Northern was desperate for another spate of wickets.
Fisher came back with Joe Walker, but Parkes and Johnson kept on course to the finish line.
The Volts continued their big run through the back end of The Ford Trophy campaign, this time taking a good win off the current leader to boost their qualification chances - with midtable rivals the Central Stags meanwhile faltering in their penultimate match against Canterbury and opening the door for the Volts to stay ahead of them.
Parkes (47 not out) and Johnson (46 not out) had ticked off the victory in just 39.1 overs.
