Chapple torments Essex again

Simon Katich and Glen Chapple put Essex to the sword once more as Lancashire won by 64 runs in the Yorkshire Bank 40 Group B match at Chelmsford. Both players figured prominently in their side's County Championship victory on the same ground as Essex were dismissed for 20 on Friday and they were at the forefront once again.

Put into bat, Lancashire reached 230 for 8 with Katich making 60 before they dismissed the hosts for 166 in 34.3 overs, with Essex losing their last four wickets in eight balls for three runs.

Chapple, who had taken 5 for 9 in Essex's humiliating three-day Championship defeat, took 3 for 33 including the vital scalp of Owais Shah, who was beginning to pose a serious threat. Hamish Rutherford and Shah had revived the Essex hopes with a partnership of 94 in 17 overs after the first two wickets had fallen cheaply.

New Zealand Test opener Rutherford played fluently, timing the ball sweetly and hitting cleanly, and he completed a 52-ball half-century with six boundaries including two sixes, one off Jordan Clark and the other off Simon Kerrigan. Former England international Shah was the more subdued although he was quick to pounce on any loose deliveries, also striking Kerrigan over the ropes.

But after they had given Essex relief, the loss of three wickets in five overs for 21 runs put Lancashire back in firm control. Rutherford picked out deep midwicket off Stephen Parry, Ryan ten Doeschate chipped Parry to mid-on before Shah was pinned in front of his stumps by Chapple for a 64-ball 42 that left the hosts still requiring 97 from 80 balls with five wickets left..

It was a situation from which they never recovered as Lancashire turned the screw to record a comprehensive victory over opponents who had started the match at the top of Group B.

Katich underpinned the Lancashire innings with a well-structured run-a-ball innings that contained five boundaries, including a six off Saj Mahmood that cleared the ropes at deep extra cover. Playing conventionally, the Australian continued to show his liking for the Essex attack, reaching his half-century from 52 balls.

His quick feet allowed him to produce a series of sweetly-timed drives while working the ball around the field on both sides of the wicket. He arrived at the crease with the visitors 45 for 2 but stayed for 23 overs, during which 142 runs were added including 42 for the sixth wicket with Gareth Cross who scored 29.

That proved the highest partnership of an innings that saw a number of his colleagues play themselves in only to depart short of making significant contributions. Opener Ashwell Prince made 31 before he lofted a catch to deep square leg to give David Masters the second of his two wickets.

The total was boosted by the addition of 44 runs from the final five overs with Chapple striking Graham Napier for successive boundaries off the final two balls.