Otago comfortably reached that point yesterday. Its opening act of the summer was to surrender for a paltry 88 on a what was a reasonable wicket.
The Volts' innings was blighted by some poor batting skills and lasted just 30 overs.
Northern Districts strike bowler Brent Arnel deserves a fair chunk of the credit for a brilliant 10-over spell in which he took six for 18, his best first-class performance.
The 30-year-old picked up the key wicket of Craig Cumming and struck the very next ball, bowling wicketkeeper-batsman Derek de Boorder. He sliced through the middle order, bowling Hamish Rutherford and Neil Wagner, and also nicked Warren McSkimming out.
In reply, Northern Districts reached 195 for six by stumps on day one.
First-innings points were in the bag by 5pm and the visitors are well-placed to push on for an outright victory.
Michael Parlane set a solid platform at the top, scoring 51 before he was undone by Wagner, and Joseph Yovich and Peter McGlashan fashioned a 66-run stand for the sixth wicket.
No doubt it was a good toss to to win for Northern. There was assistance for the seamers early and cloud cover also assisted its attack.
The bounce, particularly at the grandstand end, was variable, which did not help the batsmen.
The Volts' inexperienced top order wasted no time exposing its green edges, with opener Leighton Morgan the first to go, trapped in front for a duck by Arnel.
Greg Todd was meant to be one of the players the Volts could look to to play a steady hand with five Black Caps unavailable. But instead of occupying the crease and buying some time for his side, he mistimed a hook shot - reckless in the circumstances - and was caught at square leg.
Shaun Haig played around a straight delivery - a shot that is fast becoming his trademark - leaving Otago reeling at 32 for three.
Despite the carnage, Cumming looked in good touch and played some delightful pull shots. But on 42 he made a late decision to pull out of a defensive shot and succeeded only in steering the ball into the slips.
It was the crucial moment and, with the captain back in the shed, Northern made light work of the rest of the batting line-up.
There were four ducks in the Volts' innings, but in case you are wondering, Otago's total of 88 was not even in its top 50 lowest innings scores. Its worst day at the office was at Carisbrook against Wellington in 1956-57 when the side managed a total of 34.
Rain delayed play for more than an hour and a-half in the morning and the match will start at the earlier time of 10am today, with Yovich (47) and Anton Devcich (9) to resume.
