Former Northern Districts' batsman Scott Styris proved to be the fly in the ointment for his former teammates in the first day of their four-day State Championship match at Cobham Oval yesterday. The Auckland Aces reached a passable 277 in their first innings thanks to a solid and sometimes spectacular knockof 95 by the veteran Black Cap. The Northern Knight's bowling was a shade too short and the bowlers were punished severely by Styris, who hit 14 boundaries off 146 balls. Colin de Grandhomme also took to the bowling with a quickly compiled 63, including a massive six over long-on. It could have been so much better for the Knights and they will rue the missed opportunities. Styris was dropped twice during his 3 hours at the crease, the first of them by Brad Wilson at second slip early in his innings might have made a big difference. Graeme Aldridge was the pick of the bowlers with 3/46, with Brad Scott and Joey Yovich taking two each. Just getting through the day's play was a victory of sorts for Cobham Oval's ground staff. To lose just 22 overs, when play got under way at 12.15pm, was cause for celebration after the amount of rain that had fallen in Whangarei over the past few days. The Knights will resume play today at four without loss and the day's play will be extended by 15 overs to make up for time lost.
