Essex Win by 7 Wickets at Chelmsford

Shane Snater and Sam Cook shared eight wickets during a morning of utter mayhem at Chelmsford as Leicestershire were routed for 60 before Essex wrapped up what turned out to be a nervy seven-wicket win.

  The Essex seamers were almost unplayable on a pitch enlivened by overnight rain and still tinged green, as struggling Leicestershire were dismissed inside 28 overs. The heart of the Leicestershire innings was ripped out with three middle-order wickets going down in 15 balls, turning 25-2 into 29-5, and four more in a concentrated 24-ball blitz that prefaced the end. Snater took four of them for 12 runs, Cook 4-19.

  And all this after Leicestershire claimed a 40-run first-innings lead after taking the last two Essex wickets in the first 16 minutes of day three, though Ian Holland’s two wickets with the new-ball to finish with 4-54, gave a hint of what was to follow.

  However, in a remarkable turnaround in the Rothesay County Championship, little more than two hours later Essex found themselves requiring just 101 runs to win with five sessions nominally in which to do it. They duly reached their target in 30 overs but not without alarms as they lost three quick wickets.

  Leicestershire barely had time to celebrate their advantage before the carnage began. With the floodlights on, and the pitch with plenty of life in it, Rishi Patel played down the wrong line to Jamie Porter and existed lbw. Fellow opener Sol Budinger followed soon after, swinging at Cook to mid-off, the ball in the air for so long that Tom Westley could have done a handstand.

  Next man in was Nick Kelly, the New Zealand lefthander confirmed overnight as the injury substitute for Jake Weatherald, who badly bruised his elbow on day one. Kelly had rocked up in Leicester with a Vitality Blast contract in his pocket, only to suddenly find himself unexpectedly called upon to don whites in Chelmsford.

  A bewildered Kelly had still not got off the mark from 16 balls when he lost captain Holland, nibbling at one just outside off-stump to Cook. And he hadn’t scored from the four balls that followed before he got a thick edge to an inswinger from Snater and Simon Harmer dived full-length to his left to claim.

  A third wicket in double-quick time went down when Cook knocked back Jonny Tatterall’s off-stump. At that stage Cook had 3-6 from seven overs.

  And still the wickets tumbled. Stephen Eskinazi scratched around for 21 balls before he misjudged a delivery from Snater, who then accounted for Ben Green in his next over, also lbw to an indeterminate forward movement. That gave Snater figures of 3-5 in his sixth over.

  Porter had been comparatively quiet, but he rejoined the party when Ben Mike tried to charge him, wafted, missed and ended up losing his leg stump. Ajaz Patel’s stay lasted just three balls before he played around one from Snater.

  Lunch was delayed long enough for Cook to come back and end Ben Cox’s 41-ball solo rearguard action by removing off-stump.

  The dark clouds had disappeared, the floodlights switched off, as Essex chase began in bright sunshine. There appeared little to disconcert them in the first 10 overs, but that quickly changed. Josh Hull had Dean Elgar lbw with his third ball. Next over Paul Walter’s faltering season continued when he played tentatively forward to Green and was also lbw before Tom Westley hoisted Hull to mid-on. Faint alarm bells were ringing at 27-3 before Matt Critchley and Charlie Allison put on a measured fourth-wicket stand of 77 to see them over the line.

  Holland had polished off the Essex first innings at the start of the day when Harmer shuffled across to give himself room and exposed his leg stump, which was duly uprooted, and Snater lasted four balls before nicking behind. That left Wiaan Mulder, who had batted fluently in an 86-run ninth-wicket stand with fellow South African Harmer, 79 not out.