Warks win basement battle

Westwood: Half-century

LV County Championship - Division One
Southend - Day Four
Essex 150 (R Clarke 4-27) & 159 (Imran Tahir 4-20) v Warwickshire 155 (B E McGain 4-33) & 155-3 (I J Westwood 61)
Warwickshire (19pts) beat Essex (3pts) by 7 wkts

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Captain Ian Westwood hit the only half century of the match as Warwickshire claimed a seven-wicket victory over fellow County Championship strugglers Essex at Southend on Friday.

Westwood's innings of 61 included six fours, came off 130 deliveries and proved the foundation for a successful run chase of 155 as the visitors secured their third success of the summer.

He was trapped lbw by leg-spinner Bryce McGain with Warwickshire still requiring 37 runs to win but Jim Troughton and Rikki Clarke were able to steer them to their target.

Darren Maddy put on 82 for the second wicket with Westwood before he edged David Masters to Tim Phillips in the slips.

Phillips had earlier been removed by Boyd Rankin after Essex had resumed on 78 for six. They added a further 81 runs - a feat largely due to the efforts of Masters and Matt Walker, who added 46 for the eighth wicket before both were dismissed by Imran Tahir (four for 20 from 8.4 overs).

Having played more games than their nearest rivals, Essex now face an enormous task to avoid relegation, although Warwickshire remain bottom of the table in spite of the 19 points they have picked up.

Day Three

The Division One relegation battle between Essex and Warwickshire was left finely poised after 17 wickets fell on day two at Southend.

Essex quickly lost their final wicket for the addition of only a single run after resuming on 149-9, with Warwickshire then responding with a disappointing 155 before grabbing six of the hosts' second-innings wickets.

Playing in only his second County Championship game for Essex, Bryce McGain was the architect of Worcestershire's downfall as the 38-year-old Aussie spinner claimed figures of 4-33.

Darren Maddy and Rikki Clarke briefly held things together with a fourth-wicket stand of 49, but neither managed to press on for a big score as they departed for 39 and 36 respectively.

After the visitors were dismissed in only 55 overs, Jaik Mickleburgh (30) and Mark Pettini (16) made an encouraging start for Essex but the wickets soon began to fall.

After falling from 33 without loss to 56-4, skipper James Foster (12) was superbly caught low down at first slip off the bowling of Chris Woakes and Tony Palladino was stumped when moving forward against spinner Imran Tahir to leave Essex at 78-6 at the close.

Day One

Warwickshire's seamers dominated on day one of their crucial LV= County Championship clash with fellow Division One strugglers Essex at Southend.

Having won the toss and opted to bat first in the relegation battle, the home team limped to 149-9 when mid-afternoon rain ended play early.

Their situation would have been a lot worse had it not been for tail-enders Bryce McGain and Tony Palladino, the duo adding 43 before the former fell lbw to Rikki Clarke, who finished the day with three wickets, for 24.

Palladino was unbeaten on 31 from 36 deliveries when the weather intervened. The only other major contribution with the bat came from Matt Walker, who took 19 overs to make 29.

Essex had crumbled to 31-4 against the rock-bottom Bears, Chris Woakes (2-39) removing opener Mark Pettini leg before with the 14th ball of the match.

Neil Carter then took control, the left-armer picking up three wickets in the space of eight balls. Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh were his first two victims before he claimed the prize scalp of Ravi Bopara, who was lbw for just a single.