Essex’s Dean Elgar and Tom Westley put on an unbeaten century stand to put the brakes on Surrey’s winning streak in the Vitality County Championship.
The champions, who had celebrated their third successive title triumph last week, were brought back down to earth as Elgar and Westley dominated the Surrey attack at Chelmsford.
Despite a delayed start due to heavy rain, Essex won the toss and elected to bat. They lost Robin Das early on, but Elgar and Westley quickly settled in and began to build a solid partnership.
Elgar, who has now passed 1000 runs for the season, was the more aggressive of the two initially, taking three boundaries off Kemar Roach early on. Westley, who also has over 1000 runs to his name this season, gradually accelerated as the partnership grew.
The pair brought up their century stand in just 26 overs, with Westley reaching his half-century shortly after. Elgar reached his fifty for the ninth time this season, while Westley’s half-century was his sixth of the year.
Surrey’s attack, which included three first-class debutants, struggled to contain the Essex batsmen. Elgar and Westley hit boundaries to all corners of the ground, putting the Surrey bowlers under pressure.
The rain returned just before lunch, forcing the players off the field. By that time, Essex had reached 116 for 1, with Elgar on 54* and Westley on 52*.
The rain continued throughout the afternoon, and play was eventually called off for the day at 2.30pm. Essex will resume their innings on day two with a strong position, looking to build on their solid start and put further pressure on Surrey.
