Northern Districts lost to Otago Volts by 1 run (DLS)
Cobham Oval, Whangarei
20 February 2022
The Otago Volts may have bowed out of the running for The Ford Trophy final with one round still to go, but they went out with a stunning, fighting victory in a match that was ND's to win.
The Volts had elected to bat at Cobham Oval but got rolled for a bits-and-pieces total of just 132 in the 43rd over.
Fresh northern paceman Matt Fisher was in the mixer again with 4-34 while captain Jeet Raval had some fun, too, with figures of 2-6 from his two overs of tweak.
Just four of the Volts' line-up had made it to double figures, with a top score of 36 from Dale Phillips battling away at the top on the sweeping ground.
Then some Northland precipitation intervened, and ND's target was revised to 120 from 40 overs - a required rate of just three runs per over.
At 96 for three, WASP was fairly confident this was ND's game to win.
Tim Seifert had smacked 45 from 44 at first drop to give ND momentum but it would prove to be the only score of substance as Northern collapsed, perhaps in a rush to try to secure a bonus point - to keep their slim hopes of a spot in the Final alive.
On his toes, Phillips was crucial again when he fired in the throw that ran out Seifert off a calling mix-up, and from there things just fell apart for the hosts in disastrous fashion.
ND lost seven wickets for just 22 runs, bundled away for 118, and just one run short!
Michael Rippon (3-41) had a field day after that point, ripping out the heart of the ND batting in the space of two overs: dangermen Brett Hampton, Joe Carter and Mitch Santner all gone.
Ben Lockrose finished the job with 3-17 in the 27th over for a remarkable four-pointer.
The Volts will round out their Ford Trophy and white-ball season on Tuesday in Auckland, which is poised to be the retiring legend Neil Broom’s final game.
