Ryan Ten Doeschate was not available for the Otago Volts in the first match of the CLT20 qualifiers - and despite winning their opener convincingly there was never going to be any doubt that the destructive all-rounder would go straight into the lineup once available.
Ten Doeschate showed just why he is rated so highly in the T20 game, scoring a blistering 32-ball 64 to help Otago to their second win in as many matches and with it pretty much end the chances of Sri Lankan side Kandurata Maroons.
Otago eased to a six-wicket win over Kandurata to remain on course for the main draw of the tournament with another impressive performance.
After being put into bat, Kandurata did reasonably well to post 154 for nine in their 20 overs. However, the target always felt like it would be about 15 runs short as Otago, led by Ten Doeschate, cruised home in 18 overs to finish on 157 for four.
Hamish Rutherford again looked good in his brief little 15-ball 20-run (4x4) stay, before Suraj Randiv dismissed the clean-hitting left-hander.
Neil Broom (25 in 26) got a little stuck along with Brendon McCullum, who could not pick up from where he left off in the last innings.
Ten Doeschate came into the crease after McCullum's wicket in the eighth over, with the required run rate at over nine runs an over.
However, under pressure, the South African-born batsman just caught fire in brilliant fashion, with Ten Doeschate allying for 44 from 27 balls with Broom, who had very little to say in the partnership.
After Broom's dismissal, Ten Doeschate (64, 32b, 2x4, 5x6) continued on his merry way and was given good company by James Neesham (32, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) with the latter seeing the match through after the former's late wicket.
Earlier, a solid innings from Upul Tharanga spurred Kandurata Maroons to 154 for nine. However, the total could and probably should have been much more had some of the other batsmen around Tharanga stuck around a little bit more.
Kandurata did well to make nearly 170 in the last game, and they would have been on course for another big total but for some good Otago bowling and poor batting decisions.
Ian Butler was the pick of the bowlers for Otago with figures of three for 21, but it was James McMillan who picked up the first wicket of the innings in the sixth over - castling Shehan Jayasuriya (13 in 19).
Kandurata kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which rather quelled the momentum of the innings a bit, even if Tharanga looked in sparkling touch at one end.
Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne, who played so well against the Sunrisers, could not repeat their success for a second consecutive match as both the left-handers fell cheaply for 13 and 6 respectively. In fact after Tharanga's 76 (56b, 6x4, 3x6), the next highest scorer was Nuwan Kulasekara with 14, while three other batsmen ended up on 13.
Kandurata were in a strong position after 15 overs on 112 for four even if they lost skipper Thirimanne in the last ball of the 15th over.
However, they only managed 42 runs from there on in to finish on 154 for nine, and that told in the end as Otago made the total look easy.
