target with five wickets and sixteen balls to spare. (Cricinfo scorecard) C&G Trophy Round Two: Lancashire v Essex (17 May) Lancashire beat Essex by 6 wickets to progress to the Quarter-Finals of the C&G Trophy Andrew Flintoff took four for 26 and the other five bowlers dug out a wicket each, as Essex made 195 for 9 en route to their first of two one-day defeats in the 2005 season, Ravinder Bopara top-scoring with 42 off 83 balls. In reply, Lancashire's opening partnership of Mal Loye and Stuart Law put on 53 in 10.1 overs at Old Trafford, before Alex Tudor dismissed them both. Brad Hodge, however, kept the run rate up by scoring at nearly five an over, well ahead of the required four. Hodge was dropped on 32, and Lancashire might have been put under pressure if it had been taken, but instead he went on to make 82 off 102 balls before he was caught behind off Tim Phillips, as Lancashire made their target with 6 wickets and 6 overs to spare. (Cricinfo scorecard) County Championship: Essex v Worcestershire (20–23 May) Worcestershire (21pts) beat Essex (4pts) by eight wickets Essex and Worcestershire scored runs at a rate of nearly four an over in the match at Chelmsford, and thus the match ended in a result despite some 40 overs being lost to rain. Ronnie Irani, with 85, was the only one to pass 40 for Essex, while Matthew Mason and Gareth Batty took wickets amid showers on the first day. Essex totalled 220 in their first innings, Mason taking four for 48, Batty three for 26, and Sri Lankan overseas player Chaminda Vaas going wicketless. In reply, Ben Smith made a century including fourteen fours, and with help of Gareth Batty (54) and Kabir Ali (53), both former England players, Worcestershire got to 383 all out – a lead of 163. Alastair Cook, Essex' 20-year-old prodigy, made a quick 46 in reply, but it was their 37-year-old Zimbabwean Andy Flower who was the top scorer, lasting three and a half hours at the crease and pairing up with five different batsmen for his 85 – which led them to 329. Setting Worcestershire 167 to win, Essex got two wickets before the close of play on day three, removing opener Stephen Peters for 0 and nightwatchman and wicketkeeper Jamie Pipe for 11, caught off Darren Gough and Dale