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.