Essex v Nottinghamshire
Vitality County Championship
The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford
Monday 09 – Thursday 12 September 2024 | 10:30am
Team News
Essex: Dean Elgar, Robin Das, Tom Westley*, Matt Critchley, Luc Benkenstein, Paul Walter, Michael Pepper+, Shane Snater, Simon Harmer, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter.
Nottinghamshire: Haseeb Hameed*, Ben Slater, Freddie McCann, Joe Clarke, Jack Haynes, Kyle Verreynne+, Lyndon James, Liam Patterson-White, Luke Fletcher, Robert Lord, Farhan Ahmed.
Match Details
Umpires: Peter Hartley & Rob White
Match Referee: Dean Cosker
Scorers: Paul Parkinson & Anne Cusworth
Toss: Nottinghamshire won the toss and elected to field first
Result: Essex won by an innings and 83 runs
Scorecard: View here
Day Four Reaction: Anthony McGrath
Day Four Report
Simon Harmer again took four wickets as Essex finally overcame some stiff resistance to bowl out Nottinghamshire on the fourth morning at The Cloud County Ground and pick up an innings-and-83-run win.
After the visitors resumed on their overnight 180-2, the Eagles fired through the order in a little over two hours to pick up the eight remaining wickets and bowl them out for 281, with Harmer’s 4/93 leading the way.
It gave the South African spinner match figures of 8/109, and the 23 points gained provided the ideal tonic to the reverse suffered at the hands of Worcestershire a little over a week ago.
The hosts’ morning got off to the ideal start when, just four overs in, Sam Cook broke the partnership of 136 between Haseeb Hameed and Joe Clarke by pinning the former lbw for 105.
Just eight deliveries later, Clarke was on his way back to the dressing room too, caught for 67 as Harmer took an outrageous reactionary grab at second slip to give Cook a second wicket.
That left the visitors, now without two of their premier batters, still 170 runs in arrears, and Paul Walter’s second over of the day shortly afterwards made their situation even worse.
Walter first held Jack Haynes himself off a leading edge as the batter looked to glance one to leg, before Shane Snater spectacularly caught Lyndon James at cover two balls later for a duck.
There was some gamely resistance from wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, who survived with the tail to score 38 not out, but two further Harmer wickets allowed Essex to take the extra half-hour to finish the job.
He saw Robert Lord caught by his near-namesake Robin Das at short leg for a counter-attacking 21, before turning one beautifully through Luke Fletcher’s guard to uproot his off stump for a duck.
That gave Fletcher a pair in the match, and despite some late resistance from Verreynne and last man Farhan Ahmed, Shane Snater picked up the wicket of the latter, caught behind for six, just before 1pm to confirm a big win.
Day Three Highlights
Day Three Reaction: Simon Harmer
Day Three Report
Jamie Porter snared a five-wicket haul for the second consecutive match as Essex bundled out Nottinghamshire to set up a victory push on a fast-moving Day Three at The Cloud County Ground.
Porter picked up figures of 5/35 from ten overs as Nottinghamshire, having resumed on their overnight 37-1, lost 9/45 – with Simon Harmer also taking 4/16 – to be shot out in their first innings for only 93.
However, Haseeb Hameed then struck an unbeaten century in the second innings, guiding his side to 180-2 at stumps to leave the Eagles with a stronger challenge than they might have faced otherwise.
In a departure from the ongoing theme of the game, the skies were clear and the sun was out in Chelmsford for the start of the third day, but it took fewer than eight overs for Essex to pick up a wicket.
Freddie McCann was lbw to Harmer for 11, teeing up a collapse that started with Ben Slater and Joe Clarke also falling, caught by Dean Elgar off Harmer for 29 and lbw to Porter for 13, respectively.
Essex’s unbridled attack did not stop there, either, as Jack Haynes was lbw to Harmer for just one in the very next over after Clarke’s dismissal, before Kyle Verreynne was held by Snater off Porter for 12.
Lyndon James struggled against the rampant Harmer before eventually being spectacularly caught behind by Michael Pepper off Porter, and Luke Fletcher was then pinned lbw first ball by the seamer.
His five-for was completed with the penultimate wicket, that of Liam Patterson-White, who was also pinned lbw for eight, before Harmer wrapped things up as Robert Lord was caught by Robin Das.
Batting once again, Hameed and Clarke were stouter the second time around, battling through to close with an unbroken stand of 131.
It enabled Notts to overcome the earlier loss of Slater and McCann again for eight and four respectively, both to Harmer.
Hameed went to three figures with a single in the final trappings of the day, but the visitors still face a mammoth task to salvage the game with clear weather predicted tomorrow.
Day Two Highlights
Day Two Reaction: Michael Pepper
Day Two Report
Michael Pepper became the second centurion of the Essex first innings against Nottinghamshire as the Eagles established the upper hand on Day Two at The Cloud County Ground.
Pepper matched the feat achieved by his captain Tom Westley yesterday, eventually making 115 as the hosts piled up 457 all out.
Nottinghamshire then advanced to 37-1, 420 in arrears, with Sam Cook claiming the only wicket, before further bad light and rain brought about an early curtailment.
Resuming on his overnight 108 and with Essex standing well at 262-5, Westley advanced to 122 before being bowled by Robert Lord, though that took nothing away from Pepper.
The wicketkeeper stylishly passed fifty for the third time this season in first-class cricket, doing so with a back-foot punch for four off Lord, and carrying on to hoist the Eagles to four batting bonus points.
He added 133 for the seventh wicket with Simon Harmer, and moments before that stand was ended, posted three figures for the second game in a row with a glanced single off Farhan Ahmed.
Harmer himself contributed a very helpful 51, cashing in as the second new ball turned softer, with the highlight of his enterprising innings being his strike of Ahmed for an almighty six over long-on.
The South African’s dismissal precipitated the end of the Essex innings, as Shane Snater and Sam Cook went quickly afterwards, before Pepper became the final wicket, falling to Liam Patterson-White.
Notts then proceeded to an opening partnership of 19 before captain Haseeb Hameed fell to Cook, well held by debutant Luc Benkenstein at backward point.
With the light still remaining an ever-present problem, the players were taken off the field shortly before 4:15pm, with further rain then settling in to end any hope of a restart.
Day One Highlights
Day One Reaction: Tom Westley
Day One Report
Captain Tom Westley led from the front with an unbeaten century as Essex posted 262-5 on a frequently-interrupted Day One against Nottinghamshire at The Cloud County Ground.
A rain-delayed start of a little over an hour pre-empted what was to come, as only 74 overs ended up being possible on a day that saw a total of five interruptions owing to a mix of bad light and rain.
However, despite the tough conditions after losing the toss and being put in, Westley manfully applied himself to notch a first century of the season, ending the day on 108 not out, and underpin the Essex batting effort.
The 35-year-old hit with power and precision across all areas, though was especially strong through midwicket as he went to fifty in 79 balls and brought up his hundred late on in a fluent 193.
He shared in a partnership worth 142 with Paul Walter, who made an invaluable 72 for the fourth wicket, hauling the Eagles back from a potentially tricky position of 86-4.
That came after Robert Lord had seen off Dean Elgar and first-class debutant Luc Benkenstein, either side of Lyndon James and Luke Fletcher removing Robin Das and Matt Critchley, respectively.
However, despite the light remaining dim to the level that at one point, Notts were forced to bowl exclusively spin, Walter and Westley garnered their collective experience and fought back.
They moved through the runs at a similar rate, rotating the strike well and evenly shared their contributions to both the 50 and 100 partnerships, which came either side of more interruptions.
The duo’s collective efforts had put Essex in the far healthier position of 228-5 when Walter was finally beaten by Farhan Ahmed late on.
That left Michael Pepper to see out the remaining overs alongside Westley, whose final major act of the day was to take advantage of four Haseeb Hameed overthrows to reach his hundred.
Enter the ballot for international tickets
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