Essex win floodlit opener

Essex beat Derbyshire by five wickets in the first match of the Twenty20 Floodlit Cup at Derby.

Now a triangular competition, with the PCA Masters XI joining last night's opponents in the tournament, the opening match was reduced to 16-overs-per-side after rain delayed the start to 7.35pm.

In a break from convention all of the bowling took place from the Grandstand End of the County Ground due to sunlight affecting the view of the batsmen from one end (the old scoreboard end) during the first innings.

Derbyshire made a disastrous start after winning the toss as they slipped to 4 for 2 with Graham Napier and Tony Palladino each striking in their first overs. Phil Weston and Stephen Stubbings steadied the innings in a stand of 30 but Derby were teetering on 67 for 5 before the youngsters Tom Poynton (25 not out) and Jake Needham (14 not out) added a useful 39 to lift Derby to 106 for 5.

In reply Varun Chopra and Ravi Bopara fell cheaply, as did Grant Flower and Mark Pettini, but with 20 runs needed from the last three overs, ten Doeschate (24*) found a useful ally in Tim Phillips who struck a rapid 16 not out to usher Essex to victory with five balls to spare.

The next match in the competition takes place on Thursday when Derbyshire play the PCA Masters XI.