The Volts played the Kandurata Maroons (Sri Lanka) overnight and a win would have been enough to clinch a spot in the main draw.
They were also boosted before the game by the arrival of Dutch import Ryan ten Doeschate, who has been released from his English county.
On Tuesday night in Mohali, Otago outclassed the Faisalabad Wolves in its opening game, winning by eight wickets. The win extends Otago's twenty/20 winning streak to 11 matches.
Volts captain Brendon McCullum anchored the chase with a classy innings of 83 and combined with Derek de Boorder in an undefeated stand of 101 for the third wicket.
Set 140 for victory, the Volts made light work of the target, reaching it with 2.1 overs to spare.
While McCullum was named player of the match for his well-paced knock, Otago's seam attack of James McMillan, Ian Butler and James Neesham set up victory with some fine bowling.
McMillan (35) rolled back the years and bowled with good pace and extracted enough movement to cause alarm in the Wolves' top order.
He struck with his first ball, luring Ammar Mahmood into a false shot. Neil Broom took the catch at backward point. Ali Waqas holed out in the third over to hand McMillan a second.
Otago had a slice of luck removing Asif Ali. Nick Beard misjudged the catch and had to lunge forward. He ending up scooping the ball. It rolled up his forearms and he clasped it against his chest.
Replays revealed the ball had probably hit the ground. Neesham was the fortunate bowler. It was his birthday so perhaps it was fate.
The Wolves rallied through their captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Khurram Shehzad. The pair put on 61 for the fourth wicket and Misbah-ul-Haq, in particular, helped resurrect an innings which was faltering badly.
But before he could really cut loose Ian Butler came up with a superb yorker and bowled him.
Between McMillan, Butler and Neesham, the trio accounted for six of the eight wickets to fall.
Neesham had a hand in a seventh wicket when he combined with Neil Broom to run out Ehsan Adil.
Their tally of 139 always appeared at least 20 runs shy of a competitive total.
Otago's reply got off to a poor start with Broom getting an outside edge to an inswinging delivery.
But Hamish Rutherford counterattacked with some lusty hitting. He whacked three sixes in an entertaining cameo of 25 from 12 deliveries.
That got Otago ahead of the required rate. McCullum hit cruise control. He got to 50 before he allowed himself to play more expansively. It is a joy to watch him punch the ball through extra cover and he stroked a couple of delightful drives in that direction.
In the late game, the Sunrisers Hyderabad had an eight-wicket win against the highly-rated Kandurata side.
The Maroons posted 168 for three but Shikhar Dhawan whacked 71 from 53 deliveries and combined in a 121-run opening stand with Parthiv Patel (52).
Thisara Perera whacked a six to seal the win.
