Aces battle hard to win day one
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Colin de Drandhomme picked up the first wicket
It was hard yakka for much of the day on a batter friendly pitch for the Aces but crucial wickets in the last session mean they start day two in a good position.
The man they will want to dismiss early on is Perth-born Dean Brownlie who was 74 not out and a big part of the Wizards 281 for six at stumps.
Wizards captain Peter Fulton won the toss and decided to bat on the first day at QEII Park Village Green and the openers did a good job with Rob Nicol scoring 75, and Michael Papps 41. The captain came in to play a useful 42 and give the home side some hope of a sizeable score.
But the Aces kept working hard throughout the day and two wickets to offspinner Bhupinder Singh followed by another couple late on to Andre Adams mean that Canterbury find themselves in a much more precarious position than the 272/4 they were on not long before stumps.
Adams and Bhupinder Singh were the pick of eight bowlers employed by the Aces, the latter taking two for 53 in 28 tight overs of off spin.
Aces captain Kyle Mills described day one of the season as "an outstanding day of first class cricket" where his players bowled and fielded as a team to finish on top, on what is one of the flatter wickets in New Zealand.
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