CLYDESDALE BANK 40 GROUP B, Chelmsford:
Essex 77-2 (8 ovs) beat Netherlands 51-3 (16 ovs) by eight wickets (D/L)
Match scorecard

Essex paceman Masters took his best bowling figures in this season's CB 40

Essex closed the gap on CB 40 Group B leaders Yorkshire to three points with an eight-wicket Duckworth/Lewis victory over the Netherlands at Chelmsford.

The visitors' innings was halted by rain after three quick wickets for David Masters reduced them to 29-3.

With the game then reduced to 16 overs per side, the Dutch went on to post 51-3, but Essex won with ease on 77-2.

Essex needed only eight overs to chase their revised total of 74, Ravi Bopara (43no) hitting two sixes in 23 balls.

Bopara, who hit 28 off one Mohammed Kashif over, put on 47 for the first wicket with Mark Pettini, who made 31 off 21 balls.

Brad Kruger dismissed Pettini and then struck twice in one over, also getting rid of his international colleague Ryan ten Doeschate for two.

Earlier, the visitors batted for just an hour, facing 13.3 overs, Masters taking 3-11 to account for Eric Szwarczynski, Michael Dighton and Wesley Barresi, before rain caused a three-and-a-half delay (with a restart at 1800 BST).

CB 40 debutant Wilf Diepeveen and Bas Zuiderent added a further 22 runs from their remaining 15 deliveries.

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