The Otago captain has been missing at the top of the run-scoring list this summer. But he returned to form yesterday with a match-winning knock of 76 not out against a star-studded Canterbury side at Hagley Oval.
The home team crashed to be all out for 160. In-form seamer Jacob Duffy and left arm wrist spinner Michael Rippon were chiefly responsible for Canterbury’s demise.
But the target proved more challenging than you might think.
The Volts got the batting wobbles again. They slumped to 64 for four and were struggling to form a partnership.
But Rutherford kept playing his shots at the other end and eventually found a willing partner in Josh Finnie, who made a small but critical contribution.
Otago clinched a five-wicket win with nearly 15 overs to spare.
That sounds convincing, but it was down to the way Rutherford batted.
The experienced left-hander had put together scores of 28, 2, 9, 3, 0, 0 and 16 in the Plunket Shield and 28, 0 and 5 in the Ford Trophy.
But he stroked a century for Albion in club cricket at the weekend and took that confidence into yesterday’s fixture.
While Rutherford has been in a dip, Duffy has be close to career best form at the moment.
The big Southlander sliced through Canterbury’s top order, which included a couple of world-class players in Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell.
He removed opener Chad Bowes first, though. The batter got a top edge and gloveman Max Chu ran back and caught it over his shoulder.
That brought Mitchell to the crease. The 31-year-old right-hander scored centuries in all three tests in England earlier this year but got a jaffa from Duffy first ball.
It swung out and nipped away further. Mitchell got forward and did everything right except he only got enough bat on it to edge it to second slip.
Bottle that delivery. It was perfect.
Nicholls got a good one as well. It was the angle rather than the swing that snookered him.
With the top gone, Michael Rae (one for 35) and Matt Bacon (two for 27) teamed up to dispatch the middle order.
Latham got through to 35 and looked good. But he flicked a shot off his pads and was caught in the deep.
Matt Henry smashed 27 from 16 balls before he became one of Rippon’s victims.
Duffy set it up with three for 34 from 10, but Rippon owned the end. He snaffled four for 32.
It was quite an achievement to bowl out Canterbury so cheaply and with so many overs remaining.
The objective for Otago was to avoid a collapse of its own.
Its batting has not been very reliable this season and the Volts lost early wickets in the chase.
Opener Llew Johnson feathered an edge to the keeper for 10, and Dean Foxcroft (4) spooned a drive back to the bowler.
Black Cap Glenn Phillips got a tickle on a loose delivery down leg before he had opened his account.
The rescue job fell to Rutherford. He played the only way he knows how — cracking shots away despite Otago never falling under any run-rate pressure.
The real pressure was at the other end. No-one could stick with Rutherford very long.
Finnie grafted his way to 16 from 40 balls. It does not sound like a lot, but the partnership was worth 63 and that was colossal in the context of the game.
At the Basin Reserve, Tim Seifert clubbed 103 from 87 balls and featured in a 160-run stand with Katene Clarke (71) at the top of the order. And Jeet Raval whacked 81 of 63 to help Northern Districts post an imposing 381 for five.
It was Northern's highest ever one-day total against Wellington and its second highest against any team (the record standing at 398 against the Central Stags in Hamilton in 2012-13).
Firebirds star Finn Allen did his best to respond in kind, launching into an explosive knock of 90 off just 54 balls.
Tom Blundell fell one short of a half century, while Nick Kelly (66 off 56) gave Wellington a second lease of life.
But every one of ND's seven-prong attack was successful, and they bowled out their host in the penultimate over for 348.
CANTERBURY
H Nicholls c G Phillips b Duffy 19
C Bowes c Chu b Duffy 13
D Mitchell c D Phillips b Duffy 0
T Latham c McConchie b Rae 0
C Fletcher c G Phillips b Bacon 6
H Shipley c Johnson b Rippon 17
I Sodhi c D Phillips b Rippon 19
M Henry b Rippon 27
W O'Rourke not out 2
E Nuttall b Rippon 13
Extras (lb 1, 8w) 9
Total (all out, 37.3 overs) 160
Fall: 1-27, 2-27, 3-49, 4-52, 5-67, 6-82, 7-105, 8-144, 9-145.
Bowling: M Bacon 7-1-27-2, J Duffy 10-1-34-3 (2w), M Rae 9-1-35-1 (2w), M Rippon 8.3-1-32-4 (2w), G Phillips 3-0-31-0 (2w).
OTAGO
H Rutherford not out 76
L Johnson c Fletcher b Shipley 10
D Foxcroft c & b Henry 4
G Phillips c Fletcher b Henry 0
D Phillips c Bowes b Nuttall 18
J Finnie c Bowes b Nuttall 16
M Rippon not out 16
Extras (4b, 1lb, 15w, 1nb) 21
Total (for 5 wkts, 35.2 overs) 161
Fall: 1-24, 2-34, 3-38, 4-64, 5-127.
Bowling: M Henry 10-0-33-2 (1w), H Shipley 6-0-35-1 (4w), E Nuttall 7-1-30-2 (5w), W O'Rourke 3-0-16-0 (1w), I Sodhi 5.2-0-26-0 (1nb), C McConchie 4-0-16-0.
Result: Otago won by five wickets.
