Heartbreak rather than glory was waiting for Otago at the end of its topsy-turvy Plunket Shield encounter with Northern Districts in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Volts were chasing 356 for victory and coach Dimitri Mascarenhas had been confident of victory the night before.
But Otago's talented top order of Aaron Redmond (26), Hamish Rutherford (2) and Michael Bracewell (17) was not able to set the platform it needed to push for the outright win, and Otago was dismissed for 306, 50 runs shy.
The much-improved Ryan Duffy scored his third first-class century and Derek de Boorder resisted with 43.
Eighteen-year-old Josh Finnie, in just his second first-class game, did his best to get Otago up, adding 77 from 99 balls - his maiden first-class 50 - and debutant legspinner Rhys Phillips made a valuable 29.
But veteran Northern seamer Graeme Aldridge had the final say, picking up five for 57 - his 14th first-class five-wicket bag.
The loss has seen Otago (75 points) drop from second place to fourth place and effectively slip out of contention.
Canterbury leads the competition with 104 points, with Northern in second place on 90 points. Auckland is probably too far back on 77 points and in third place.
There is still a maximum of 40 points available to each team, so Otago retains a mathematical chance of finishing ahead of Canterbury.
Meanwhile, Otago middle-order batsman Jesse Ryder is in trouble again.
Fairfax is reporting the former Black Cap faces suspension and a heavy fine after an expletive-laced outburst when given out during the loss to Northern.
Otago Cricket Association chief executive Ross Dykes had read the news story but had not heard anything official when contacted for comment yesterday.
''I've spoken to our coach and he has told me there was an incident and that is really as much as I know,'' Dykes said.
''Until there is an official report, there is nothing I can say.''
Ryder used foul language during Otago's four-wicket win over Auckland in Dunedin earlier this month but escaped being fined for breaching New Zealand Cricket's code of conduct.
''It was an issue but it did not become a code of conduct issue. He was not cited,'' Dykes said.
Ryder is scheduled to fight in a charity boxing event in Christchurch on Saturday night, and the event conflicts with the last day of Otago's Plunket Shield match against Canterbury at the University Oval.
While the fight has been advertised on television, Dykes suggested Ryder's leave of absence had never really been firmed up with Otago cricket.
''He just talked about it and we said, well, we'll talk to the coach about it and see what happens because, at that stage of the year, if we weren't in the hunt, there could have been some sense in him doing so.''
