Otago champion Nathan Smith took four for five to set up a monster nine-wicket win at Molyneux Park yesterday.
Sorry, sorry — former Otago champion Nathan Smith.
He moved to Wellington a few years back and really inflicted some awful pain on his old team-mates.
Otago collapsed to be all out for a New Zealand men’s T20 record low of 47.
The Volts smashed the record, actually.
Wellington had the previous worst day out. They were routed for 72 by Northern Districts in Hamilton in 2015.
Wellington will be glad to have shed that dubious honour, and they took all of 4.3 overs to overhaul the paltry target.
So what happened during Otago’s innings?
Well, Wellington opening pair of Smith and Logan van Beek got the ball to hoop around.
The ball kept swinging for the entire innings. But that can only form part of the explanation for the Volts’ horrific demise.
They were entitled to get a lot more bat on ball than they managed on what was a wonderful batting strip. That is wonderful, not woeful in case you were wondering.
Volts coach Dion Ebrahim was more quietly spoken than usual after the game. What could you really say after a day that bad?
"No-one likes to lose badly but it was one of those games," he said.
"You have to give credit to Nathan Smith. He bowled outstanding lines and length and got it to swing.
"And they got momentum early. Unfortunately, in T20 on a good wicket, we knew that we still had to be fairly aggressive and fairly bold.
"And that didn’t pay off today."
No. No it did not.
The rot set in early when Jake Gibson was nicked out in the opening over.
Wellington picked up a wicket every over for the first five.
It was hard to absorb what was happening. The bowling was on the mark, that is for sure.
Hamish Rutherford got a beautiful yorker from van Beek, who claimed three for 19.
Smith got another on target to bowled Max Chu.
Then Dale Phillips holed out to leave the Volts teetering at 12 for four.
Surely it could not get any worse but it did.
Dean Foxcroft and Ollie White added a run each before joining the procession.
It was hard to watch for the 1300 fans who shown up hoping for a slogfest.
They were treated to some of that from Wellington who secured one of the most one-sided wins.
Tim Robinson flayed an undefeated 30, and former Volts Nick Kelly added 11 not out.
Matt Bacon picked up the wicket of Nick Greenwood in the only highlight for the Volts. But he pulled up lame and could not finish his over.
He also top-scored for the Volts with nine, raising the question when was the last time a No11 top-scored for Otago?
Ebrahim said Bacon’s injury will be assessed during the next few days.
The Volts host the Auckland Aces at Molyneux Park on January 1.
Otago
H Rutherford b van Beek 7 (7)
J Gibson c McLachlan b Smith 2 (3)
D Foxcroft c van Beek b Smith 1 (5)
M Chu b Smith 0 (2)
D Phillips c Robinson b van Beek 0 (6)
L Johnson c Robinson b van Beek 7 (16)
O White c Tashkoff b Younghusband 1 (8)
B Lockrose c van Beek b McPeake 1 (2)
T Muller c&b Younghusband 7 (6)
A Hazeldine c Abbas b van Beek 6 (7)
M Bacon not out 9 (14)
Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6
Total (all out, 12.4 overs) 47 (76)
Fall: 1-3, 2-9, 3-11, 4-12, 5-14, 6-19, 7-20, 8-30, 9-30.
Wellington
T Robinson not out 30 (16)
N Greenwood c Gibson b Bacon 10 (5)
N Kelly not out 11 (6)
Extras (2w) 2
Total (1 wkt, 4.3 overs) 53 (27)
Fall: 1-38.
Bowling: A Hazeldine 2.3-0-25-0 (1w), T Muller 1-0-22-0 (1w), M Bacon 0.4-0-1-1, D Foxcroft 0.2-0-5-0.
Result: Wellington won by nine wickets.
— Adrian Seconi, in Alexandra
