OV vs WF | Lockrose and Cumming keep Otago in contention for playoffs with five-wicket win over Wellington

‌Otago Volts kept themselves in contention for a playoff spot in the Super Smash 2025-26 campaign with a five-wicket win over Wellington Firebirds on Thursday. In a match that was shortened to 16 overs due to rain, the Volts’ Ben Lockrose led a disciplined bowling effort in Dunedin to restrict the visitors to 132/7 before Jacob Cumming set the tone for the chase with a knock 45 in 33 balls. The win kept the hosts in fourth spot with 14 points from seven games, while Wellington are out of the tournament suffering their sixth loss in eight matches.

With rain and wet outfield delaying the start of proceedings at the University Oval, Otago decided to put Wellington in with overcast conditions in mind. Though the opening duo of Tim Robinson and skipper Tom Blundell scored four boundaries in the first three overs, they ended up playing 11 dot balls to be placed at 19. Unsurprisingly, the pressure paid off with left-arm spinner Lockrose scalping two wickets in the next over, his second. But Blundell and new batter Muhammad Abbas ensured there were no further casualties, ending the five-over powerplay at 27/2. Though the pair extended their third-wicket stand to 57 runs, their dismissals in the space of an over put the visitors on the backfoot. Blundell had four fours and three sixes in his knock of 47 from 35 balls, with the score reading 80/4 after his departure in the 12th over. However, Jesse Tashkoff hit three sixes in five balls during his entertaining 12-ball 24 cameo, and along with Callum McLachlan (13), took the side to a challenging total. Meanwhile, Lockrose ended with a spell 2/24 with all the other bowlers picking up a wicket each.

The run-chase started on a wonderful note with Cumming smashing Logan van Beek for a six in the first legal delivery of the innings en route to 16-run first over. He then welcomed Ben Sears with three boundaries before repeating the feat against an out-of-sorts Van Beek as the Volts raced to 64/0 in the powerplay. But both openers were back in the hut by the ninth over, with medium pacer James Hartshorn accounting for them in consecutive overs. Cumming missed out on a well-deserved fifty as he departed for a 33-ball 45, after hitting six fours and a six. And two more wickets in quick time had them at a tricky 114/4 as the required run rate went above six an over. But Troy Johnson (19), first, and Jake Gibson (16) ensured that Otago won full points with their handy cameos carrying the side past the target to 136/5 with two balls to spare. For the visitors, Hartshorn finished with impressive figures of 3/17 in four overs, while Van Beek had a night to forget giving away 46 runs in his 2.4 overs.