Essex beat Lancashire in Triangular Tournament Final

Essex won the Triangular Tournament Final yesterday, beating Lancashire by 3 wickets at Newlands. Lancashire won the toss and batted first, but could only reach 142 off 44 overs on a slow, low wicket being used for the fourth consecutive time. Iain Sutcliffe made some welcome runs and was the top-scorer with a solid innings of 45. The only other batsmen to reach double figures were Mark Currie with 29 and Gary Yates who finished 21 not out. James Middlebrook and Paul Grayson once again tied the batsmen down, Middlebrook taking 4 for 19.

In the Essex reply, Will Jefferson hit 61, which an innings watching Lancashire Manager Mike Watkinson described as "brilliant". The rest of the Essex batsmen struggled with the conditions and a mid-innings collapse initiated by Gary Yates with 4 for 39 and Peter Martin (3 for 32) meant Essex still required 30 runs with only 4 wickets left. Wicket-keeper James Foster and the experienced John Stephenson then combined to steer their side to the victory target with nearly 8 overs to spare.

Mike Watkinson while disappointed with the defeat, was pleased with the fight back in the Essex innings. "You would like to win, of course," he said, "but these games are all about time in the middle, and we will be using the remaining games to give everyone as much practise as possible."

Scores:

Lancashire innings: 142 all out (44 overs) Mark Chilton 2, Iain Sutcliffe 45, Mal Loye 9, Alec Swann 0, Mark Currie 29, Glen Chapple 3, Warren Hegg 4, Peter Martin 2, Gary Yates 21*, John Wood 8, Steven Crook 4.

Bowling figures: Jon Dakin 0-24 (5), Justin Bishop 1-28 (7), Andy Clarke 2-22 (8), John Stephenson 1-21 (6), James Middlebrook 4-19 (9), Paul Grayson 1-24 (9).

Essex innings: 144-7 (37.1 overs) Will Jefferson 61, Darren Robinson 16, Aftab Habib 6, Paul Grayson 9, James Foster 27*, Ravinder Bopara 0, Jon Dakin 3, James Middlebrook 3, John Stephenson 10*. Did not bat: Justin Bishop, Andy Clarke.

Bowling figures: Peter Martin 3-32 (9), Glen Chapple 0-24 (7), Gary Yates 4-39 (8), John Wood 0-27 (7), Steven Crook 0-20 (6.1).