No 41: Otago does the double (1988)
It was a double with a difference.
The Otago cricket team of 1987-88 won the Shell Cup before a chanting, cheering crowd in Alexandra; and the Shell Trophy on a quiet Monday morning after New Zealand Cricket officials had completed their calculations.
More than 3500 spectators filled Molyneux Park as Otago slumped to 66 for six in the Cup final against Northern Districts but Derek Walker, Warren Lees and Neil Mallender counter-attacked and John Wilson hit the winning runs - a towering drive to the long-off boundary - with two wickets and two balls remaining.
The double seemed a remote prospect when Otago began the last round 16 points behind Auckland but spinner John Lindsay bagged 10 wickets as he bowled Otago to victory over Wellington at the Basin Reserve.
Otago and Auckland both finished on 52 points but Otago was eventually declared the winner on points differential and the players gathered to celebrate at the old Beach Hotel.
It was a triumphant finale to the career of captain Warren Lees, who had led Otago to six national titles.
Four Otago batsmen - Ken Rutherford, Richard Hoskin, Walker and Lees - averaged 50 or more in the Shell Trophy while Stephen Boock, Neil Mallender, Lindsay and Wilson took almost 100 wickets between them.