Essex 391 beat Lancashire 103 (S Cook 4-18) and 232 (Vilas 62, Harmer 5-89) by an innings and 56 runs

Essex's bowlers took just 21 balls to wrap up their innings-and-56-run victory over Lancashire on the final morning of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford.

Needing just one wicket to complete their comprehensive win, Tom Westley's bowlers achieved their goal in the fourth over of the morning when Luke Wood was caught behind by Adam Rossington off the bowling of Jamie Porter for 27, thus leaving Lancashire 232 all out in their second innings.

In the 14 minutes' cricket that was watched by 45 spectators at Old Trafford, Wood hit three boundaries off Sam Cook and Simon Harmer before a good ball outside off stump from Wood induced him to fence fatally. Harmer ended the innings with figures of five for 89 and Cook returned a match analysis of six for 62.

Essex earned 22 points for their victory and move into the top half of the Division One table. Lancashire took two points from the game and seem certain to end this first tranche of County Championship matches in fourth place, 18 points behind leaders Surrey with all the teams in the top tier having played six matches.

It is only Lancashire's fifth innings defeat this century and their first since they lost to Yorkshire, also at Old Trafford, in August 2014. It is also the Red Rose's first home defeat since 2018 when they lost the Roses match in July.