Canterbury Wizards 303-9 (Dean Brownlie 65, Peter Fulton 62, Jimmy Neesham 4-51), lost to Otago Volts 305-5 in 47.1 overs (Jesse Ryder 108*, Hamish Rutherford 67, Nathan McCullum 50*, Rob Nicol 3-55) by five wickets at Aorangi Oval, Timaru.
In a high scoring encounter, Jesse Ryder's unbeaten 108 from 88 balls helped the Otago Volts chase down the Canterbury Wizards' 303-9.
The Wizards' top and middle order almost all chipped in - after an opening stand of 80 between George Worker (30) and Tom Latham (43), Dean Brownlie top scored with 65, backed up by Peter Fulton with 62. Jimmy Neesham pegged the home team back with 4-51 from his ten overs, while Nick Beard chipped in with 3-42.
In reply, the Volts lost Neil Broom in the first over, but Hamish Rutherford (67) and Michael Bracewell (43)'s brisk 111 run partnership had them on track. The Volts lost both men with the total on 112, and the Canterbury bowlers started to excerpt real scoreboard pressure through the middle stages. Jesse Ryder's approach was fearless, and in partnership with Nathan McCullum (50*), he was able to see the Volts home from the first ball of the 48th over, hitting a six from Simon Keen's first delivery of the game to win the match.
