County Championship: Warwickshire beat Essex to earn third win of the season

Warwickshire underlined their County Championship title credentials by completing a four-wicket win over fellow challengers Essex inside three days at Edgbaston.

Chris Rushworth exploited helpful overhead conditions to finish with 4-62, for match figures of 8-90, while Hasan Ali took 4-48 as Essex were bowled out in their second innings for 215.

That left a victory target of 100 and, with batting remaining far from straightforward, Warwickshire had to work hard to get there, on 100-6, to go top of Division One, pending the conclusion of the Surrey-Middlesex game on Sunday.

The skills of Rushworth and Hasan, ably supported in the seam department by Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Ed Barnard, were the decisive factor in a fast-moving match which yielded a three-day result despite the loss of 41 overs to the weather on the first two days.

Essex's first defeat of the season came as a jolt after drawing against champions Surrey last week, while Warwickshire's third win in five games maintains a strong start after so narrowly avoiding relegation last September.

After Essex resumed on the third morning on 86-4, still trailing by 30, overnight pair Matt Critchley and Michael Pepper took their side in front but neither lasted much longer as three wickets fell in 15 balls.

Critchley edged Hasan first slip, then Rushworth pinned Pepper lbw and had Doug Bracewell brilliantly caught by Sam Hain at second slip.

Simon Harmer (with 50 not out from 79 balls) and Shane Snater attacked effectively to ensure they would at least have something to bowl at.

But Snater was snared lbw by Hannon-Dalby, and Hasan Ali had Sam Cook caught at long leg and Jamie Porter taken at slip.

Chasing 100 in a minimum of 73 overs, Warwickshire had plenty of time but Alex Davies sought to do the job quickly and fell lbw to Cook before Yates edged Porter and, when Bracewell produced two superb away-cutters to remove Hain and Will Rhodes in three balls, it was 65-4.

But Ed Barnard came in to hit an unbeaten 23 and, although the dismissal of Dan Mousley and Michael Burgess in successive overs had a few home nerves jangling at 91-6, the former Worcestershire all-rounder steered his new side home.

Warwickshire first-team coach Mark Robinson:

"We're absolutely delighted with the start we've made. If at the start of the season somebody had offered us three wins from five games we'd have bitten their hand off.

"Even with all the weather around we've forced three wins. Batting hasn't been that easy with all the rain around. Sam Cook for Essex was outstanding and Jamie Porter looks back to his best. But Will Rhodes scored a superb 68, the highest score of the match and absolutely vital in the context of the game.

"Then 70 from our last-wicket pair was vital too. We were leading by 40 then all of a sudden it's 110 and much more imposing and it just showed how important those runs were when we got over the line, on 100 with six wickets down.

"The chase was a bit scruffy from our point of view. We could probably have finished it a bit more calmly and not made it jittery, but we got over the line. We are not perfect but we are a team which has a bit of bottle."

Essex head coach Anthony McGrath:

"The first day was key when we were 76-2 and then lost that cluster of wickets to be all out for 126. Even though the pitch was tricky, as it was all game.

"If we had got to somewhere around 180, it would have been a different game. Then the second pivotal passage was the 70-run stand by their last two which really hurt us. We scrapped hard after that and we would have probably defended 150 but it was still a really good effort from the lads.

"The weather all around the country has been so wet. We saw when the covers came off there was a luminous green around the grass, it's just been so difficult for the groundsmen. We knew it was going to be difficult and the ball was going to nip about.

"We talked about setting them somewhere in the region of 130-150 today. Simon Harmer batted really well but every time we started getting a partnership together we lost a couple of wickets."

Report supplied by ECB Reporters Network