for the eighth wicket, Leicestershire's highest partnership of the match. (Cricinfo scorecard) Essex v Leicestershire (6–9 May) Essex (21pts) beat Leicestershire (3.5pts) by six wickets In a relatively closely fought game at Chelmsford, the Essex team showed more resilience than the visitors, with nearly everyone chipping in to give the hosts a relatively comfortable victory. It started with a good bowling effort on the first day, after Ronnie Irani had chosen to put Leicestershire in. It nearly backfired, Darren Robinson and Darren Maddy easing their way to 98 for no loss, but the part-time medium pace of Essex number three Ravinder Bopara got Maddy out, resulting in a mini-collapse to 167 for 8. David Masters (27) and Phil DeFreitas (20) saved the innings somewhat, but Leicestershire's final total of 220 off 81 overs meant that Essex looked like being in the drivers' seat. Dale Steyn, the young South African pace bowler with three Test caps, took three for 69 on Essex debut, but Darren Gough was the pick of the bowlers with three for 46 - including Robinson, Paul Nixon for a golden duck and DeFreitas. With every Essex batsman except number 11 Steyn (run out for 0) scoring in double figures, Essex showed a real team effort, with in-form opener William Jefferson top-scoring with 93 as Essex got into a relatively comfortable lead of 142. Leicestershire fought back well on the third day, though, having lost Maddy before stumps on the second day to be 57 for 1. Robinson, Dinesh Mongia, Aftab Habib and HD Ackerman all passed 30, and Claude Henderson chipped in with a fine 55 from number 9, as Leicestershire made their way to a lead of 190. Only Gough showed consistent threat, taking four wickets for 60, while Steyn again became too inconsistent - he conceded 102 runs in his 21-over effort, although he did get the wickets of Robinson and Ottis Gibson. Essex had the entire fourth day to secure their victory, but did not slouch - their 191 runs were up inside 44.2 overs, England A left-hander Alastair Cook the fastest scorer with 59 off 69 balls while Zimbabwean keeper Andy Flower finished with 74 not out to lead Essex to their target. To compound Leicestershire's misery, they were deducted half a point for a slow over rate. (Cricinfo scorecard) Leicestershire v Yorkshire (11–14 May) Yorkshire (17pts) beat Leicestershire (5pts) by six wickets