The remaining playoff berth was claimed by Central Districts.
They secured it with a tense win against Wellington at Pukekura Park.
They defended 253 but only just.
Wellington were well on track.
Muhammad Abbas (104) and Nick Kelly (86) put on 159 for the fourth wicket.
But the Blaze lost their last six wickets for 55 runs to lose by two runs.
That result closed the door on Otago’s playoff prospects.
Canterbury won the top-of-the-table clash against Auckland by one run in Rangiora and will get direct entry in the final, which will be staged in Dunedin on Sunday.
Auckland will play Central on Friday.
That game is also at the University Oval.
The winner will progress to the final.
Otago will reflect on some narrow losses which proved costly.
But they did finish the campaign strongly.
They ran down Northern’s tally of 226 for six thanks to a punishing partnership between Leo Carter (67 not out) and Llew Johnson (85 not out).
The pair put on an unbroken stand of 154 to clinch a seven-wicket win in a rain-affect contest.
The match was reduced to a 31-over affair.
Volts seamer Matt Bacon struck early.
He clean bowled Fergus Lellman for seven.
The batter elected to spend several more seconds at the crease to practice the shot again.
It was a good ball, perhaps the batter was bewildered.
Andrew Hazeldine got the dangerous Tim Seifert for 17.
He got an inside edge through to the keeper.
But Joe Carter stroked 48 at the top of the innings to build a base.
Then the big-hitting all-rounder Brett Hampton and Josh Brown teed off.
They put on 66 for the sixth wicket.
Brown swatted five fours and a six in his valuable knock of 38 from 26 balls.
Hampton was undefeated on 56 from 30.
He dispatched six sixes and some of them went a long way.
The man can hit hard.
The Volts were gifted a rapid start.
Scott Kuggeleijn offered up some junk to Dale Phillips and the batter was only too happy to send the first three deliveries of the innings to the rope.
Jamal Todd plundered a series of early boundaries as well.
The Volts had sped through 73 before they hit a snag.
Phillips, having blasted 39 from 30, was trapped in front by Matt Fisher.
The bowler speared it in from wide on the crease and the umpire liked the shout.
It ushered in a mini-collapse.
Todd sliced a catch to Brown shortly after for 31.
Then Dean Foxcroft perished lbw Fisher for a two-ball duck.
The Otago player touched his bat to seemingly suggest he had hit it.
That is a no-no and might get him in trouble with the match referee.
The Volts had surrendered the momentum briefly.
But Johnson and Leo Carter took over.
Johnson battered four sixes and eight fours in a display of brutal power, while Carter found the rope easily enough as well.
He clobbered seven fours and a couple of sixes.
Northern Districts
F Lellman b Bacon 7
J Carter b Foxcroft 48
T Seifert c Chu b Hazeldine 21
R O'Donnell c Gibson b McKay 13
H Cooper b Gibson 25
B Hampton not out 56
J Brown c Chu b Bacon 38
S Kuggeleijn not out 1
Extras (lb 6, w 10, nb 1)17
Total (for 6 wkts, 31 overs)226
Fall: 1-12, 2-39, 3-68, 4-115, 5-159, 6-225.
Bowling: A Hazeldine 6-0-33-1 (1w), M Bacon 7-0-59-2 (2w), J Gibson 6-0-44-1 (1w, 1nb), J McKay 5-0-30-1 (1w), D Foxcroft 4-0-28-1 (1w), B Lockrose 3-0-26-0.
Otago
D Phillips lbw Fisher 39
J Todd c Brown b Hampton 31
L Carter not out 67
D Foxcroft lbw Fisher 0
L Johnson not out 85
Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 6)10
Total (for 3 wkts, 29.3 overs)232
Fall: 1-73, 2-77, 3-78
Bowling: S Kuggeleijn 5-0-42-0 (1w), K Clarke 5-0-45-0, M Fisher 7-1-49-2 (4w), B Hampton 5.3-0-28-1 (1w), J Brown 3-0-19-0, F Walker 3-0-26-0, F Lellman 1-0-19-0.
Result: Otago won by seven wickets.
