While others have been attracting all the headlines with hundreds and five-wicket bags, Otago wicketkeeper-batsman Derek de Boorder has been quietly building a reputation as a man for a crisis.
The 25-year-old is a confessed nervous wreck on the sidelines, but in the middle he is making all the right decisions and has helped his side wiggle out of some very tight spaces.
He was at it again on Sunday when he starred alongside Darren Broom in a magnificent and unbroken sixth-wicket stand.
Otago's season was hanging by the thinnest of threads.
Chasing Northern Districts' healthy tally of 271 for eight, the Volts had slumped to 80 for five.
A win looked unrealistic, and rain threatened to end the minor semifinal several times before finally getting its way.
But de Boorder (74 not out) and Broom (83 not out) had other ideas.
They kept their nerve, found the gaps, inched their side closer and then pounced in the batting power play with a flurry of boundaries.
When weather forced an early end, the pair had added 165 - an Otago sixth-wicket record which passed the previous mark of 129 scored by Nathan McCullum and Jonathan Trott against Auckland in 2005-06 - and had guided Otago to 245 for five.
The Volts came out on top in the Duckworth-Lewis calculations, winning by nine runs.
It was a mature display from de Boorder and not the first time he had helped rescue his side this season.
He helped save Otago's bacon with an undefeated half century against Wellington at Molyneux Park early on in the campaign.
Graciously, de Boorder played down his latest effort and even mused it would have been harder watching from the sidelines of the Queenstown Events Centre.
"I'd rather be out there than sitting on the sidelines," de Boorder explained.
"At least then you are in control a little bit more.
"If I was sitting on the sideline I'd be pacing up and down and struggling.
"To come from behind like that was satisfying," de Boorder added.
"It is always good to win those close ones. That is why you play cricket and what you strive for."
When you look at the Otago line-up, it is the names like Craig Cumming, Neil Broom, Aaron Redmond, Nathan McCullum and Ian Butler that tend to jump out at you.
But de Boorder is a key member of the side and a star on the rise.
He is the one-day competition's leading wicketkeeper with 13 dismissals and he has scored 213 runs at an average of 71.
De Boorder has been so successful with the bat at No 7 or No 8 that he might have done himself out of a promotion.
A player who can finish an innings the way de Boorder has been is invaluable and, to some extent, might be wasted further up.
When the right-hander first emerged he was more of a noodler.
He would gap the ball and scamper between the wickets.
But he has developed his game and is now hitting more boundaries.
He does not appear so tied up with technique and adjusts his approach and stance according to the game situation.
That means he often stands deep in his crease and exposes all of his stumps.
De Boorder's glove work and footwork behind the stumps has improved greatly since he transferred south from Auckland in 2007-08 and he must be in the top two or three keepers in the country.
Brendon McCullum is still the king, although he has looked rusty since retiring the gloves at test level.
Northern Districts' Peter McGlashan is underrated and is an innovative player who was unlucky to miss a spot in the world cup squad.
But Auckland's Gareth Hopkins has gone backwards and Canterbury's Reece Young is bit of a journeyman.
If de Boorder keeps improving he could well be in line for a test spot.
