Michael Pepper continues fine form but rain denies Essex in the field

Nottinghamshire 37 for 1 trail Essex 457 (Westley 122, Pepper 115, Walter 72, Harmer 51) by 420 runs

Michael Pepper continued a rich vein of form that has now brought him centuries in successive Vitality County Championship matches to sit alongside two T20 Blast centuries as he helped Essex tightened their stranglehold over Nottinghamshire.

The wicketkeeper-batsman’s 115 from 147 balls eclipsed his previous best score against Worcestershire last week by three runs as he built on Tom Westley‘s 122 to take Essex to a formidable 457 in their first innings.

After putting on 69 with his captain, Pepper joined forces with Simon Harmer in a stand of 133 for the seventh wicket that threatened to pile further pressure on the relegation-haunted visitors. Pepper seasoned his innings with12 fours and a six while Harmer’s 51 was his highest score of the season.

Nottinghamshire had reduced the deficit to 420 for the loss of captain Haseeb Hameed in the 10.5 overs possible before play on day two was curtailed by bad weather with the visitors on 37 for 1.

At the start of the day, Rob Lord struck for his third wicket of the innings with the 19th delivery of the new-ball – but the Kookaburra was more than 30 overs old before the next wicket fell. The only success of the morning session was when the pace bowler got one to jump up at Westley who dragged on to his stumps to depart after more than five hours of patient accumulation in scoring 122 from 241 balls.

Pepper continued to bat sensibly, a textbook straight-driven four a stand-out alongside an unorthodox forehand smash through mid-off. His alliance with Harmer saw off the new-ball and took Essex to a fourth batting point.

Harmer had been struggling with the bat but reached his first fifty of the season – and only his second score above 19. A six over midwicket off Farhan Ahmed and a reverse-swept four off Liam Patterson-White had already indicated that confidence was returning.

A quickly scampered single took Pepper to three-figures from 135 balls and earnt a warm embrace from a batting partner who would depart soon after. An attempt at another reverse sweep in Freddie McCann’s first over proved to be Harmer’s downfall as the misjudgement ended in him being bowled. His fifty included five fours and a six.

Neither Shane Snater nor Sam Cook lasted long, both going down the wicket to Ahmed (3 for 102) and being bowled and stumped respectively before Pepper was bowled by Patterson-White. The last four wickets went down for 27 runs in six overs.

Nottinghamshire lost Hameed in the fourth over of their reply when he slashed Cook to point. However, his opening partner Michael Slater refused to be tied down, flicking three of his four boundaries off his legs in a 36-ball 26 before rain added to the gloom to curtail the day with 36 overs remaining.