With four rounds remaining in the Ford Trophy, there is still a maximum of 20 points available, so Otago can claw their way off the bottom of the competition standings and into the playoffs if all goes well.
Not a lot has gone well so far, though.
Their last outing against Canterbury was a humbling experience. The Volts lost that one by eight wickets after being skittled for 135.
Their batting has been fragile.
They were six down for 49 against Canterbury. That was a bit like that horrific dream people have when all their teeth fall out.
They were rolled for 154 by Central Districts in New Plymouth in early December. Otago needed only 237 to win that game at the pint-sized Pukekura Park, so that was a disappointing outcome as well.
The opening game of the campaign offered the only glimmer of sunshine. Dale Phillips stroked a century to set up a 42-run win over Auckland in Invercargill.
The Volts got pummelled by Finn Allen in the return against the Aces at Eden Park Outer Oval.
The Black Caps opener smashed 168 from 110 balls. You can shrug that off. He is phenomenal ball-striker.
But the Volts do lean heavily on Jacob Duffy to strike at the top and he has not had a lot of success yet. He has just three wickets at an unflattering average of 68.67.
Matt Bacon picked up a side strain during the T20 campaign and missed the Canterbury game.
He has been the best of the Otago bowlers. His haul of six wickets at 22.33 represents good value.
Bacon played for Otago A at the weekend and cannot be far from a return for the Volts.
Travis Muller (five wickets at 27.40) has been the toughest Otago bowler to get away for runs.
The spinners have been expensive but, on balance, the Otago attack has arguably performed better than expected.
The fielding has been average in patches. But it is the batting that has been the major problem.
Thorn Parkes (168 runs at 42) slipped out of the top 10 in the last round. The 23-year-old left-hander is Otago’s leading scorer.
Phillips scored a maiden list-A century in game one, but has strung together scores of 6, 5 and 10 since that effort
Captain Dean Foxcroft is another player who is due a big score. His run of 18, 62, 15 and 6 is not terrible. But it is not what we expect from last season’s domestic player of the year.
Hamish Rutherford retired at the end of the Super Smash campaign. Losing a player of his experience and ability has reduced the firepower the Volts have available.
Llew Johnson is a good ball-striker but he is not making a significant contribution often enough.
Luke Georgeson has a promising list-A record, but he has scored just 50 runs in four innings for the Volts.
Fellow opener Jacob Cumming is new to list-A cricket.
The top six are struggling but will have to find a way to score runs against a good Central Districts bowling attack at the University Oval today.
The Volts (eight points) have to start winning if they are going to make it into the top three and clinch a place in the playoffs.
The Stags are in third place on 13 points.
Northern Districts (20) lead from Auckland (16), while Canterbury (12) and Wellington (nine) have some ground to make up.
In the other games today, Auckland will host Canterbury and Wellington are at home to Northern Districts.
Otago’s remaining games
Four to go
v Central Districts, Dunedin, today
v Wellington, Basin Reserve, Saturday
v Northern Districts, Queenstown, February 14
v Wellington, Queenstown, February 18
Ford Trophy
The points
Northern Districts 20
Auckland 16
Central District 13
Canterbury 12
Wellington 9
Otago 8
The teams
University Oval, today
Otago: Jacob Cumming, Luke Georgeson, Dean Foxcroft, Dale Phillips, Thorn Parkes, Llew Johnson, Max Chu, Ben Lockrose, Travis Muller, Andrew Hazeldine, Jacob Duffy, Jake Gibson.
Central Districts (possible): Curtis Heaphy, Brad Schmulian, Will Young, Dane Cleaver, Josh Clarkson, Will Clark, Bevan Small, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner, Jayden Lennox, Ray Toole, Bayley Wiggins.
