Essex destroy Northants

Graham Napier took 3-22 as Essex thrashed Northants

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Essex inflicted a crushing eight-wicket defeat on Northamptonshire at Southend to cement their place at the top of the NatWest Pro40 Second Division.

Their triumph was achieved under the Duckworth/Lewis method after rain had reduced the contest to 37 overs per side.

The visitors had no answer to a combination of hostile bowling and a fiery pitch and were rolled over for a paltry 61 in the 21st over.

Only two visiting players managed to reach double figures - Lance Klusener with 20 and David Sales, who made 17.

The home pace attack repeatedly found the edge, with deliveries that either lifted or swung as seven batsmen fell to close fielders.

Four of the catches were snapped up by wicketkeeper James Foster, who was leading the side in place of Mark Pettini, nursing a groin injury.

The Steelbacks quickly found themselves in dire straights as Graham Napier and David Masters each claimed two wickets to leave their rivals 12 for four in the sixth over.

But after Masters went on to pick up 3-27, and Napier 3-22, it was Chris Wright who emerged with the best figures.

He returned 3-3 in four overs, with the other wicket claimed by Ravi Bopara.

Among Wright's victims was Sales, the only batsman to be caught in front of the wicket when he drove to Ryan ten Doeschate in the covers.

Faced with such a low target, Essex were able to coast to victory to maintain their unbeaten record.

They suffered just two setbacks on the way, both the wickets of Varun Chopra and Napier being picked up by Johan van der Wath.

Jason Gallian finished with 20, while Bopara sealed victory with his third boundary of an unbeaten 14.

Although run-gathering was far from easy, the pitch was nowhere near as problematical as Northamptonshire’s efforts suggested - a fact that was confirmed by umpires John Holder and Nick Cook at the end.

Essex needed only 14.5 overs to reach the winning post, and celebrate their third victory of the campaign.