Black Cap and former Central Districts paceman Adam Milne took two wickets and effected a run out in the last over to seal a tense eight-run win for Wellington against Otago at the Basin Reserve today.
Milne was on debut for the Firebirds and got thrown the ball for the final over.
The Volts needed 12 to win and were at least at even odds of snaffling the win.
Dean Foxcroft was stranded at the non-strikers end on 73 and watched as Michael Rippon was bowled by a pinpoint yorker.
Otago scrambled a bye off the next two deliveries.
Jake Gibson was dropped at point and another run was added to the total.
But now Otago needed nine off two and it ended in disappointment for the visitors.
Gibson got run out backing up, and Foxcroft was bowled with the final ball of the game.
It was a dramatic end to an entertaining game which came down to small margin, Volts coach Dion Ebrahim said.
"On another day that result might have swung differently," he said.
"Adam closed out really well. Obviously he is one of the best in the world. He has a vast amount of T20 experience and he hit the hole pretty immaculately."
Sure did.
The Firebirds posted an arguably under par 152 for eight.
Opener Finn Allen rushed through to 21 before hitting a towering catch to Josh Finnie.
Nick Kelly took up the long handle in Allen’s absence.
He smacked a six down the ground and swung away a boundary next ball.
He launched another towards the rope but Llew Johnson intervened with a remarkable diving catch.
Michael Rae’s opening over had been quite the rollercoaster — two wickets, a six and a four.
Rachin Ravindra drilled back-to-back boundaries to keep the pressure on. But the Firebirds lost a third inside the powerplay when Troy Johnson got a leading edge before he could add to the score.
Otago leaned on its spinners to keep a cap on the scoring coming out of the powerplay.
Nathan Smith (19) and Ravindra countered by rotating the strike and building a good base for a second onslaught.
Rae nabbed a third wicket when Tim Robinson swung a catch to Finnie, and finished with career-best figures of three for 13.
Wellington had been reduced to 87 for five.
Foxcroft did a good job with the ball as well. He was not part of captain Hamish Rutherford’s initial bowling plans.
But he tossed him the ball when Michael Rippon proved costly and it panned out nicely.
Foxcroft took two for 14 from four overs in an excellent spell.
With five overs remaining, the job of rescuing a good total fell to Ravindra.
He clobbered Ben Lockrose for consecutive sixes in the 18th over to boost the run rate.
Jacob Duffy just missed a yorker and got dispatched down the ground as well.
But on 67 Ravindra got run out trying to return for a second.
Otago made a sluggish start to its chase. Rutherford succumbed early and Dale Phillips and Foxcroft took some time settling.
That ate into the overs available.
But the pair showed the value of building a partnership. And with plenty of hitting power on the sideline, there was no need to panic at the halfway mark.
But Foxcroft hit the go button anyway. He lofted a delivery from Ravindra down the ground for six and slashed the next to the boundary.
Phillips had battled, though, and holed out for 28 to bring an end to a stand of 76.
Johnson (24) has been trusted with the finishing role and he hammered three sixes to tilt the balance in the visitors' favour.
But it fell to Foxcroft to guide the Volts to victory. He stroked Milne for three fours in the 18th over to close the gap on the target.
Milne was not too popular with Wellingtonians at that point. He is now.
