Essex win at a canter

Essex 280 for 6 (Pettini 61, Irani 59, Bopara 58, Phillips 3-52) beat Northamptonshire 171 (Sales 46, Bopra 3-28, Ahmed 3-40) by 109 runs
Scorecard

Will Jefferson celebrates a wicket during Essex's easy win © Getty Images

Essex romped to a convincing 109-run win over Northamptonshire in the opening match of the new Pro40 league at Chelmsford.

In a one-sided contest, Essex reached 280 for 6 thanks to half-centuries from Mark Pettini, Ronnie Irani and Ravinder Bopara. Pettini and Irani shared in an opening stand of 95 in 14 overs, while mid-innings impetus came from a stand of 73 in seven overs by Bopara and James Middlebrook.

Chasing a stiff target, Northamptonshire never recovered from losing Sourav Ganguly and Rob White to successive deliveries from Andy Bichel. Only David Sales, who lived on after being brilliantly caught on the boundary by Ryan ten Doeschate off a no-ball, offered any serious resistance with 46.

While the marketing men were keen to promote this as a fresh new tournament, there was a slightly stale feeling as it comes after the public success of the Twenty20 and the rather disappointing format of the C&G Trophy. Old timers at Chelmsford were quick to point out that rather than something new, this was little more than a revamp of the old John Player League which kicked off one-day domestic leagues back in 1969.