Essex 116 for 1 (Elgar 54*, Westely 52*) vs Surrey
An unbeaten century second-wicket stand between Dean Elgar and Tom Westley before the rains came brought champions Surrey back down to earth after their week-long celebrations.
Surrey completed their third successive Vitality County Championship win in their last game against Durham but were on the back foot during the 28-and-a-half overs possible until persistent heavy rain drove the players off the pitch nine minutes before lunch. By that time, Essex, who won the toss, had reached 116 for 1 with Elgar and Westley hitting an under-strength Surrey attack to all corners of Chelmsford in a stand worth 112 in 26 overs.
Westley had started circumspectly but accelerated the more the partnership became entrenched. He had 11 boundaries in his 52 from 78 balls. Elgar, who passed 1000 runs for the season during his 54 from 88 balls, had started brightly before handing the initiative to his captain.
Play started promptly but only after groundstaff had started pumping 4500 litres of water off the playing area from 6.30am. The operation started all over again just as they were settling in for their lunch break with play called off for the day at 2.30pm.
Under heavy clouds but with some sunshine interspersed, Essex got off to a disastrous start with Robin Das lasting just six balls before he hung his bat out to Tom Lawes and helped settle whatever nerves Josh Blake might have had behind the stumps. Blake, who posted an unbeaten century at Chelmsford in the Metro Bank Cup earlier in the summer, was one of three first-class debutants for Surrey, batsman Ollie Sykes and spinner Yousef Majid completing the triumvirate.
Elgar dominated the first fifty of the stand with Westley contributing just 13 to that point. The South African took three boundaries off Kemar Roach early on, two of them driven crisply through the covers. His seventh four, flicked to fine leg off Dan Lawrence, took him to four figures in his first year at Essex; a single off James Taylor carried him past fifty for the ninth time this season.
Westley, who passed 1000 runs for the first time in his career last season, accelerated as the clouds turned threatening and the rain approached. He reached his sixth fifty-plus score of the year – as well as passing 700 runs – shortly after the pair’s century stand had been marked.
Westley’s half-century took 76 balls, two fewer than Elgar’s, with three of his 11 fours coming in a frenetic six-ball spell against Taylor and Lawrence that was followed two balls later by four leg byes. The best of some well-placed shots from the one-time England batter was a sharp pull backward of square off Taylor