Michael Pepper's hot century spices up Essex season

Michael Pepper led the carnage with a hard-hitting century, spiced with six sixes, to get Essex's Vitality Blast campaign up and running with a four-wicket victory over Middlesex at Chelmsford.

Last year's finalists had lost their opening two matches down in the West Country against Gloucestershire and Somerset, but bounced back with a vengeance as Essex's batters feasted on a below-par Middlesex attack.

Pepper came in at 14 for 1 and was finally out for 101 with just 15 runs required. He put on 83 with Dean Elgar (32) for the second wicket to spark the run chase into action. Jordan Cox hammered 22 from eight balls, Matt Critchley 16 from 11, but they were merely supporting players as Essex got home with 14 balls to spare.

Middlesex's innings was underpinned by an unbeaten 85 from 42 balls from Max Holden and set in motion by 49 from 31 balls by opener Martin Andersson. But they have now lost their first two games of the season.

Middlesex, put in, overcame the loss of Stevie Eskinazi to the seventh ball of the innings when he feathered Aaron Beard to a flying leg-side catch by wicketkeeper Adam Rossington. A second-wicket stand of 65 in six overs between Andersson and Ryan Higgins set the platform for the visitors to post 203 for 7, a significant improvement on their 107 all out against Kent on Friday.

Higgins survived a dropped catch by Pepper at point on 5 and had advanced to 27 from 23 balls when he misjudged one from Matt Critchley and was stumped.

Andersson hit five fours and three sixes in almost doubling his previous highest T20 score of 25 to be third out with the score in 93. However, the ball after he had pulled Luc Benkenstein over midwicket for six, his attempt to cut the same bowler ended up in the hands of backward gully.

Holden was also given a life on 10 when Beard rushed in from deep square leg and failed to hang on, and he made Simon Harmer pay with two sixes in an over lofted straight down the ground. A single cut off Walter took him to a 26-ball fifty.

But he lost fourth-wicket partner Joe Cracknell after the pair had put on 62 runs. Cracknell had just scooped Beard for six over square leg when he was caught at the second attempt by Daniel Sams. Two balls later Josh de Caires was cleaned out swishing at a full-length ball from Paul Walter.

Jack Davies followed soon after, lobbing the ball into the covers off Sams, who in his next over accounted for Luke Hollman, caught on the deep point boundary. But Holden remained and he hit the Australian for his fifth six and eighth four in the last over to take Middlesex past 200.

In reply, Rossington eased Tom Helm over square leg for six, but then fell to a spectacular grab high to his right by Davies. That brought in Pepper, who smashed Blake Cullen for four blistered boundaries in an over and added two more off Helm in the next to accelerate the Essex scoring rate.

Elgar could only watch and admire at the other end but joined the party with a swept six off Noah Cornwell to bring up 50 inside five overs, with the half-century stand taking just 22 balls. A second six from the South African cleared a sightscreen and Pepper deposited another into the Pavilion seating before another took him to his own fifty from 20 balls.

The partnership was worth 83 when Elgar departed for 32 to a catch at deep extra cover off de Caires. It did not stop the agony for Middlesex as Cox's brief innings included two sixes that sailed out of the ground, before he picked out an in-rushing deep midwicket to give Higgins a wicket.

Pepper had not finished and ramped Higgins effortlessly over fine leg for another maximum and lofted Cullen for another into the Pavilion. A sixth over midwicket took him to a 43-ball century that ended next ball when he was lbw to Hollman.