spare. Essex won the toss and chose to bat first, and were bowled out for 267, Kartik taking five and James Anderson three wickets. They struggled to 145 for 7, despite Alastair Cook's 64, but James Middlebrook and Andre Adams rescued them to two batting points in the first innings. Iain Sutcliffe and Mark Chilton added 94 for the first wicket, but Adams and Danish Kaneria fought back with two wickets each, as Lancashire ended on 139 for 4. On the second day, Andrew Symonds and Glen Chapple both made fifties, sharing a 136-run stand with sent Lancashire to 340 – before spinners Middlebrook and Danish Kaneria removed the last four wickets for no further score. In the last session of the second day, Kartik took four wickets, and despite six double-digit scores Essex completed the day on 134 for 6, only leading by 61 runs. Sajid Mahmood then took two on the third day to finish Essex off for 227, setting Lancashire 155 to win, and a 106-run opening stand between Mark Chilton and Sutcliffe brought them to the brink. Two wickets from Kaneria did not stop them, as Law hit an unbeaten 13 to power on to an eight-wicket victory, Sutcliffe ending with 80 not out as Lancashire won by eight wickets. (Cricinfo scorecard) National League: Essex v Worcestershire (18 September) Essex (4pts) beat Worcestershire (0pts) by four wickets Essex Eagles continued on their winning ways with their twelfth National League victory of the season, taking a win in the last over thanks to a 78-run stand between Grant Flower and Ravinder Bopara. However, it was Worcestershire Royals who won the toss and batted first, Stephen Moore and Vikram Solanki (coming in for Chris Gayle who retired hurt) adding 103 for the first wicket. Gayle returned when Solanki was dismissed, hitting 44, and 25 from Ben Smith helped Worcestershire to 227 for 5. Andre Adams took three wickets as Worcestershire lost four for one solitary run, but Smith added 10 with the number 11 Nadeem Malik to bring the total of 240 for 9. Essex lost captain Ronnie Irani for nine early on, but a stroke-filled half-century from Alastair Cook sent Essex to 135 for 3, and Grant Flower then hit four sixes to complete a run-a-ball 81. Despite two late wickets from Kabir Ali, Bopara saw Essex home with five deliveries to spare to finish on 46