A crowd of about 800 watched as the visiting side easily mowed down the Volts’ total of 175 for seven with two overs to spare.
Openers Glenn Phillips and Rob Nicol scored the bulk of the runs. The pair put on 71 for the first wicket with Nicol posting 51 from 36, while Phillips was undefeated on 62 from 44 deliveries.
The talented wicketkeeper-batsman hit the winning runs, a lovely drive off the backfoot through the covers for a boundary.
The win lifted Auckland (20 points) into second place in the competition standings, while Otago (12 points) is now firmly entrenched at the bottom of the table.
Central Districts (26 points) has already secured top billing, while Northern Districts (18 points), Wellington (16) and Canterbury (16) are all still battling to make the playoffs with one round of round-robin games remaining.
Otago coach Rob Walter felt his side’s performance summed up the Volts’ T20 campaign.
"It has been the story of the season, really. There has been some good stuff and some pretty average stuff," he said.
"We didn’t bowl very well but I still thought we fielded OK. We didn’t miss any real chances that would have influenced the game.
"But we were 20 runs short with the bat. When Hamish [Rutherford] got out, that was a key moment in the game. We had just gained some momentum and that really was a time when the innings needed to explode."
Rutherford was hitting the ball superbly. The Volts had lost two early wickets but he gave the innings momentum, slapping 42 runs from 27 deliveries.
But he tried to steal a single only for Phillips to scoop up a deflection from the pad of Josh Finnie and score a direct hit, capturing Rutherford well short of his ground.
It was brilliant work from Phillips but also poor judgement from the Otago captain. His departure robbed the Volts’ batting line-up of some potency.
But Finnie and Brad Wilson (30 off 15) combined to plunder 34 runs off the 16th and 17th over to help hit Otago out of trouble.
Finnie showed his potential with some wonderful hitting. He dispatched three sixes in an undefeated knock of 45, his highest T20 total.
Auckland import Tymal Mills returned to the crease and helped stem the flow of boundaries. He went wicketless but he was arguably the pick of the bowlers, while Donovan Grobbelaar took two wickets in his first over to leave Otago labouring at 13 for two.
Auckland made a steady beginning to its chase. The visiting side trailed Otago by three runs after the power play but had all 10 wickets intact.
Debutant Rhys Phillips’ first over in T20 cricket was certainly interesting. The Otago leg spinner started with a gentle waist-high full toss that Nicol smashed for six. He also committed the sin of a front-foot no ball.
But then he spun the ball past Nicol’s bat. Derek de Boorder did the rest, whipping the bails off and stumping the Auckland captain.
Unfortunately, for Phillips, it was the one good delivery in an otherwise dreadful two-over stint.
The other new cap, Ryan Duffy, made a promising start. He was given out lbw for 10 but Walter suggested there was some inside edge involved.
Duffy also bowled two handy overs and skittled the dangerous Colin de Grandhomme for 30.
Otago will round out its campaign with a match against Wellington at the Basin Reserve tomorrow.
