Southland wriggled out of trouble in a Hawke Cup zone 4 match at Molyneux Park yesterday.
Otago Country debutant Toby Hart snaffled six second-innings wickets as the home side charged towards victory on day two.
But Jason Osborne proved a bulwark. He dug in for an undefeated knock of 43 during nearly two hours at the crease.
He had quality support from No.10 batter Keegan Russell. The pair put on the highest partnership of the match, adding 54.
Importantly, though, Otago Country picked up eight points for its first innings lead.
It eked out a small but precious lead.
It posted 151 thanks to a bunch of smaller contributions. Charanjeet Singh made 24 and Sukhdev Singh’s 21 was helpful as well.
Three players chipped in with 16.
Kurt Thompson starred with the ball for Southland. He claimed four for 37 and Jack Mockford and Ben McCall grabbed a brace of wickets.
The visitors found runs just as hard to get.
Hamish Skelt top-scored with 31 and Osborne (23) and Russell (20) helped their side inch past 100.
Russell was the last man out with his side 123.
Otago Country nursed a lead of 28 runs but lost early wickets again.
Sukhdev Singh got established, though, and he combined with Cam Jackson (20) and then Michael Goldstein to push the lead out towards 150.
Sukhdev Singh offered a catch on 52, but Goldstein pushed on to 36 and Jeremy Gray (23), Charanjeet Singh (23) and Tim Cotter (20 not out) rattled on some runs at the end as the home team pushed towards a declaration at 211 for nine.
That left Southland needing 240 to win, but it was quickly in trouble.
Hart picked up four quick wickets to leave Southland 36 for five.
He returned to grab another two, finishing with six for 49 from 13 overs.
But Osborne stayed defiant and helped his side avoid an outright defeat.
South Canterbury leads the standings with 12 points from two games. Otago Country and Mid Canterbury are on eight points from one game, while North Otago and Southland are scoreless after a game each.
