But once they can find the missing piece of the puzzle, steady themselves with the bat and shift into full gear, anything is possible.
The Volts are on a two game winning streak and riding high heading into today’s Super Smash game against the top-of-the-table Central Stags in Nelson.
They nabbed a five wicket win over the Wellington Firebirds last Sunday and backed that up with a three wicket win against Canterbury in a Ford Trophy match mid-week.
The Volts’ bowling attack fired in both games but some shaky batting almost let the wins slip away.
Ebrahim knows neither win was pretty, and they made it hard on themselves, but he was proud of his players’ resilience when their backs were against the wall.
"When we were under pressure in the last few games we could have easily folded and fallen away, but we showed a great bit of steeliness and backbone to win both games," Ebrahim said.
"It’s one of those games, or a couple of those games, you’d rather actually walk off with a win whatever it looks like."
Those performances had instilled a lot of confidence in the side which it would tap into today.
"If we’re in the running and we’re winning games when we’re only firing at 80%-85% and other teams are playing as well as they do, we know we’ve got plenty in the tank, so that’s the biggest piece of confidence we’ve taken."
The Volts have eased up the table into third position, but it is tight at the top — six points separate the Stags and the Volts — making the last four round robin games must wins.
"I suppose if we’re going to be serious about contending for play-offs or for the final and then winning the championship you’d like to think that when you get on a run of wins it creates momentum and every game becomes as important as the next."
The Stags are a top white ball team, packed with past and present Black Caps and big game winners — but so are the Volts, Ebrahim said.
"We’ve got a number of really top performers and genuine match winners.
"If we can find that other 15% within our capability we know we can take down any team on any given day.
"We’re quite comfortable with how we’re heading in to [today]."
Wicketkeeper Max Chu, who has been solid in the Ford Trophy, is back in the Super Smash side after being dropped in December. His role would be determined when the final 11 was named.
Jacob Duffy and Michael Rippon are both absent due to their Black Caps call ups.
The Otago Sparks will be wanting to bounce back after last week’s loss to the Wellington Blaze.
They line up against winless Central Hinds this morning and will be searching for a target of at least 140 with the bat.
Suzie Bates — who was named in the White Ferns T20 World Cup squad yesterday — was the shining light against the Blaze with her knock of 75.
Super Smash
Otago Sparks v Central Hinds
11am, Saxton Oval
Otago Sparks: Suzie Bates (C), Gemma Adams, Emma Black, Caitlin Blakely, Kate Ebrahim, Olivia Gain, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Hayley Jensen, Felicity Leydon-Davis, Molly Loe, Sophie Oldershaw
Women’s points table
Wellington 6 6 0 0 0 0 24 1.60
Canterbury 6 5 1 0 0 0 20 0.65
Auckland 6 3 3 0 0 0 12 -0.28
Otago 6 2 3 0 1 0 10 0.09
Northern (W) 6 1 4 0 1 0 6 -1.02
Central 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 -1.31
Otago Volts v Central Stags
2.40pm, Saxton Oval
Otago Volts: Hamish Rutherford (C), Matt Bacon, Max Chu, Josh Finnie, Dean Foxcroft, Jake Gibson, Andrew Hazeldine, Llew Johnson, Nick Kwant, Ben Lockrose, Dale Phillips, Michael Rae.
Men’s points table
Central 6 4 1 0 0 1 18 0.53
Wellington 6 3 2 0 0 1 14 0.57
Otago 6 2 2 1 1 0 12 -0.02
Canterbury 6 3 3 0 0 0 12 -0.05
Northern (M) 6 2 3 0 1 0 10 -0.10
Auckland 6 1 4 1 0 0 6 -0.84
