Half centuries from Andy Flower and Jon Dakin helped Essex achieve respectability on the second day of their Championship clash against Surrey at Chelmsford after humiliation had threatened.
When the County's fourth wicket went down with only 17 on the board in response to the visitors' 376 total, the follow-on target of 227 had a look of "mission impossible" about it.
But they finally reached the unexpected heights of 252, Flower and skipper Ronnie Irani leading the fightback with a partnership of 82 in 21 overs for the fifth wicket.
However, both players were guilty of poor strokes which brought about their dismissals at a time when they looked totally at ease.
The revival, however, was kept on track by the late order batsmen. James Foster put together a well constructed 38 while Dakin punched his weight while gathering nine boundaries in his 59.
Martin Bicknell was responsible for the county's early tale of woe. After carrying his overnight score from 117 to a career best 141, before he was last out, the 34-year-old showed just why he is rated as one of the country's most successful seamers.
In a 14-ball spell he got rid of Will Jefferson, Paul Grayson and Aftab Habib and later removed Foster on his way to figures of 4-67.
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Published Friday, May 23, 2003
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