Doeschate sparkles as Volts power past Maroons

Ryan ten Doeschate led the Otago Volts  to a convincing six-wicket victory over Kandurata Maroons with his all-round performance here on Wednesday.

Doeschate (2/9) took two wickets when Volts restricted Maroons to 154 for nine and then smashed a stroke-filled 64-run knock to help his side overhaul the target with 12 balls to spare.

The New Zealand side now has two victories from as many matches and they play their final match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.

After the day’s defeat, the doors have virtually been shut on the Maroons of advancing further in the League. They had lost their opening match to the Hyderabad side on Tuesday.

Maroons owed their total to splendid batting by Upul Tharanga, who scored a 56-ball 76. Other batsmen got starts but could not convert those into big knocks.In Otago’s chase, the 33-year-old Dutch anchored his side’s innings after they had lost top order batsmen Hamish Rutherford (20), who seemed in good form, Brendon McCullum (8) and Neil Broom (25).

Doeschate, Otago’s top run-scorer in the HRV Cup, had come in for Aaron Redmond who failed with the bat in the first match. His knock of 64 came in just 32 balls and was studded with two boundaries and five sixes.

The man-of-the-match Dutch batted freely and hit spinner Kaushal for three consecutive sixes.