Otago coach Dion Ebrahim was more forgiving than you might think following his side’s 95-run loss to Wellington at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday.
A quick analysis of the statistics points to a side that gave up too many runs and crumbled under the pressure of chasing a victory target of 334.
Ebrahim saw it differently.
He felt his side bowled well in the conditions. It is always tough labouring into the wind at the Basin, but the usual breeze was stronger than normal.
The bowler at that end had the added pressure of trying to defend a short boundary. It is not a helpful combination if you do not have a bat in your hand at the time.
"We were hugely disappointed, obviously," Ebrahim said.
"But we thought that with the nature of the wicket, and short side boundary, the score Wellington posted was a few below par.
"We were unfortunate to never get going with the bat. But we were never away from the run rate or our targets.
"The fact is we just kept losing wickets at regular intervals. I suppose the disappointing nature of wickets is that they were low-risk options.
"They were just poorly executed shots, which led to the demise of the batsmen.
"But I thought our bowlers did a fantastic job. They were having to contend with 50kmh-60kmh winds throughout the day, so from one end you have people running into that with the short boundary."
The Volts had the added obstacle of going into the match a batter light. Neil Broom had woken up with a sore throat and took the precaution of having a Covid-19 test.
The result came back yesterday morning. It was negative, which was a relief for the camp.
The Volts would have been ruled close contacts and would be isolating for Christmas had Broom got bad news.
But the experienced right-hander did miss the match and his absence was sorely felt.
All-rounder Josh Finnie was also missing. He was struck by a bouncer in training late last week and was ruled out.
He will be training today with the hope of being available for the Volts’ Boxing Day T20 against Canterbury at Hagley Oval.
Fast bowler Michael Rae will also undergo a fitness test. He has been struggling with a hamstring complaint since pulling up lame following the opening game of the season in October.
