Nasser Hussain: 96 off 99 balls

And with Essex 68-3, Middlesex would have fancied their chances.

But first Andy Flower smashed 45 off 48 balls with six fours, then Irani came in and unfurled a series of huge sixes with some big on-drives clearing the midwicket fence by yards.

Hussain was eventually out to the 99th ball he received, when chopping Razzaq onto his stumps.

But Aftab Habib came in and steered Essex to the victory they deserved.

Earlier Sven Koenig, with 116 off 115 balls, had demolished Essex's change bowlers to take Middlesex to a massive score on a flat pitch.

The visitors were in real trouble after losing regular wickets to stumble along to 99 for four.

But Koenig and Paul Weekes gradually improved the visitors' scoring rate and when the 41st over bowled by John Stephenson cost 19 runs, Middlesex had come back well.

And some utterly feeble fielding from Essex - they dropped at least half a dozen catches in the last 15 overs - made life even easier for the visitors.

Early on, Ronnie Irani bowled some intelligent lines and soon removed Andy Strauss for 10 as he chased one that seamed away from him.

Abdur Razzaq then scratched around for 32 balls before playing across the line to a straight one from Jon Dakin to fall for eight.

Mistimed

And Essex had further joy when Owais Shah (20) mistimed an off-drive, which went straight into Paul Grayson's hands at mid-off.

When Ed Joyce was run out for 10, four men were out and the score had not yet reached three figures. Moreover, the run rate was poor.

But Essex's change bowlers of Stephenson, Grayson, Jamie Middlebrook and Andy Clarke were wayward.

Weekes and Koenig started scoring at eight an over, though both men were dropped.

Koenig brought up his century with a straight six off Grayson, and captain Irani had nowhere to hide.

Eventually, Irani himself had Koenig caught on the long-off fence, but Weekes finished on 76 not out and Simon Cook collected 39 off just 15 as the last pair put on 57 off 25 balls.

Essex: N Hussain, D D J Robinson, J P Stephenson, A Flower (Wkt), R C Irani (Capt), A Habib, A P Grayson, J M Dakin, J D Middlebrook, A P Cowan, A J Clarke.

Middlesex: A J Strauss (Capt), S G Koenig, B L Hutton, O A Shah, E C Joyce, P N Weekes, D C Nash (Wkt), S J Cook, A W Laraman, T F Bloomfield, Abdur Razzaq.

Umpires: M R Benson and P Willey