Essex on the brink

An unbroken century partnership between Neil Dexter and Ravi Bopara left promotion-chasing Essex poised for victory in their LV County Championship Division Two clash with Gloucestershire at Chelmsford.

Left with a target of 181, they reached the close on 150 for two after Dexter and Bopara added 143.

It was a fine effort from the third-wicket pair after openers Jason Gallian and Varun Chopra had departed with only seven runs on the board.

Bopara was the major force in Essex's pursuit of a fourth championship victory of the summer.

He was in superb form right from the start and opened his account with two fours, adding another seven in completing his fifty from 55 balls.

In addition to driving and pulling with power, Bopara also made progress with some delicate cuts as he ended the day on 83, more than half of which came in boundaries.

Dexter blossomed after a nervous start to complete his first half-century for the county since joining on loan from Kent nearly two months ago.

He reached the close on 60, having struck seven fours and one six.

Ravi Bopara was in excellent form for Essex as he ended the day unbeaten on 83 with victory in sight

Much to the obvious displeasure of Gloucestershire captain Jon Lewis, Essex claimed the extra half-hour in an attempt to finish things off with a day to spare.

Lewis was in the process of leading his side off the field when umpires Nigel Cowley and Ian Gould called them back with the total on 117.

And his mood was hardly made better by Bopara and Dexter making no real attempt to reach the winning post as only 37 more runs were accrued in the additional nine overs sent down.

Earlier, Steve Snell and Kadeer Ali put up stoic resistance after the visitors had resumed on 70 for six.

They batted throughout the morning session while adding 51 in 34 overs, although both were dropped in the process.

It was not until the second new ball was taken an hour after lunch that the breakthrough was made as David Masters removed both.

Snell was first to go as Dexter held a smart slip catch to end an innings that had brought him 53 in a partnership of 83 in 55 overs.

Kadeer's vigil of just over four hours, spanning 200 deliveries, ended when he had made 43 as Dexter again held a catch in the slips.

That paved the way for Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria to bring Gloucestershire's innings to a close on 184 as he claimed the last two wickets.

That gave him figures of 5-53 in 32.3 overs, the 16th time in 37 first-class matches for Essex that he has taken five or more wickets in an innings.