The Volts have won three one-day games in a row to claim a spot at the top of the standings alongside Wellington.
Jacob Duffy and Matt Bacon have taken 26 wickets between them and are the No2 and No3 leading wicket-takers in the competition.
Hamish Rutherford has arguably been in career-best form and is the No2 leading scorer with 365 runs at an average of 73.
Former international spinner Mark Craig has returned from a back complaint which kept him on the sidelines for the past three games.
His timing is perfect with the tournament moving into an interesting stage.
The next three rounds are being played in Lincoln and Christchurch. By Sunday, the Volts should have a good idea of whether they will feature in the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Their prospects have been greatly enhanced with so many of the country's leading players on Black Caps or New Zealand A duty.
Central Districts has been hit particularly hard, whereas Otago is unscathed.
But the team is also making its own luck. Saturday's seven-run win against Wellington was as much down to tenacity as anything else.
The Volts were hammered by 193 runs at the Basin Reserve but reversed that result at the University Oval.
Duffy was a leading contributor with five for 38. But Matt Bacon took crucial wickets at the end and Josh Finnie played a valuable cameo of 53 to get the Volts through to 218 on a tired pitch.
But despite the gutsy nature of the win, Otago certainly has some issues to address.
While Rutherford and Neil Broom are in good touch, the batting remains fragile. There were some injudicious shots played in the innings against Wellington.
Shawn Hicks was one of the worst offenders. He was Otago's best performed one-day batsman last season but has undermined his position with a series of poor decisions.
The 23-year-old right-hander fell for the very obvious trap Hamish Bennett set on Saturday when he came around the wicket and dug the ball in short.
He was also bowled first ball when he managed to york himself on Wednesday, and got out to a reverse sweep Sunday week, which is always embarrassing.
It was not a great week or so and Hicks has lost his spot in the side as a result. Craig replaces him in the 13 but it will be veteran top-order batsman Brad Wilson who will take his place in the batting order.
Otago convener of selectors Steve Martin said Hicks ''quite simply has not scored enough runs''.
''He was a standout player last year and he has been given every opportunity to find some form. But unfortunately he has not been able to recapture his form and the decision has been made to take him out of the squad.
''It is a chance for him to go away and work on elements of his game.''
One of the areas Hicks will need to address is his compulsion to swing hard at anything short. He will have to do that work at club level and for Otago A.
He has also been asked to work on his bowling now that a back complaint has eased.
Otago plays Auckland today and Northern Districts on Friday. Both those games are in Lincoln.
The Volts play Canterbury at Hagley Oval on Sunday before completing the round-robin phase with a game against Auckland in Invercargill on November 24.
Auckland is reeling after two heavy losses. Coach Mark O'Donnell has made three changes to the squad.
Matt McEwan, Ben Lister, and Teja Nidamanuru replace Michael Snedden, Raj Majithia and Roneel Hira.
