Veteran Otago opener Hamish Rutherford made a tidy return to cricket earlier this week with a knock of 78 from 67 balls.
The 34-year-old left-hander is skipping the first half of the Plunket Shield to get his dodgy hips right.
He struck the ball nicely for Otago A during a one-day game against the New Zealand Development Men in Lincoln on Monday.
He whacked 14 boundaries and forged a 124-run partnership with Jacob Cumming (50).
Rutherford is targeting the one-day competition for a return to top level cricket.
In his absence, the Volts have been exposed at the top of the first-class order.
Jacob Cumming (84 runs at 14) and Luke Georgeson (81 runs at 13.50) have teamed up to open in the first three four-dayers of the season with very little success.
With partnerships of 16, 10, 7, 45, 4 and 25, the pair have not been able to get Otago off to the kind of stable starts the team would have hoped for. And Cumming has paid the price.
The 19-year-old has been dropped for today’s Plunket Shield match against Northern Districts in Dunedin, despite finding form with 83 not out for University-Grange in the club competition on Saturday and scoring a half-century for Otago A on Monday.
He has been replaced in the side by hard-hitting middle order batter Llew Johnson, who will be on first-class debut.
Thorn Parkes, who stepped up to open last season when required and performed well, will move up the order and join Georgeson at the top.
Volts coach Dion Ebrahim said Cumming had a promising future but will drop down and play for Otago A for now.
"We’ve got a long-term lense with Jacob and we know his development opportunity sits with the Volts as well as the [Otago A]," he said.
"I guess we are taking a holistic approach in his development and just thought his best opportunity was with the As to further develop his game."
There is one other change to the side which lost by 50 runs to Central Districts in Dunedin last week.
All-rounder Jake Gibson has been ruled out with a side strain and left-armer Tommy Clout has been called in as a replacement.
With contracted seamers Travis Muller and Andrew Hazeldine still returning from injuries, Clout was seen as the next best option.
Clout made one first-class appearance for Otago nearly four years ago, in which he grabbed a couple of wickets but went for nearly a run a ball. The 30-year-old also played two one-dayers for the province in 2020.
Northern Districts dispatched Otago by an innings and 32 runs in the opening game of the season and have set the benchmark during the opening three rounds.
Scott Kuggeleijn (18 wickets at 13.83) and Kristian Clarke (17 wickets at 17.18) are among the form bowlers in the competition, and Joe Carter is averaging 70.
Neil Wagner replaces Matt Fisher in the only change to the Northern Districts lineup.
Jacob Duffy has been the best of the Otago bowlers with 12 wickets at 21.50. He has shouldered a heavy workload, having already bowled more than 100 overs.
The batting has been lacklustre, but Phillips had found some reasonable form. He has clocked 205 runs at 34.17.
Plunket Shield
Dunedin, 10.30am
Otago: Luke Georgeson, Thorn Parkes, Dale Phillips, Dean Foxcroft (captain), Llew Johnson, Jamal Todd, Max Chu, Ben Lockrose, Jacob Duffy, Matt Bacon, Jarrod McKay, Tommy Clout.
Northern Districts (possible): Henry Cooper, Jeet Raval, Bharat Bopli, Joe Carter, Tim Seifert, Katene Clarke, Scott Kuggeleijn Brett Hampton, Neil Wagner, Joe Walker, Kristian Clarke, Zak Gibson.
