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All-rounder Lyndon James took a career-best four for 51 as Nottinghamshire crushed champions Essex by an innings and 30 runs before lunch on the final day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge, despite Saturday’s wash-out.
Lyndon James shone as Nottinghamshire crushed Essex. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)Lyndon James shone as Nottinghamshire crushed Essex. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Lyndon James shone as Nottinghamshire crushed Essex. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

The 22-year-old Worksop-born medium pace bowler, who dismissed former England captain Sir Alastair Cook on Friday, delivered a decisive burst of three wickets in the space of 14 balls as Essex still 95 behind at 129 for three overnight, collapsed to 194 all out, effectively beaten inside seven sessions.

James, in only his seventh first-class match, also made 51 with the bat, his 123-run partnership with centurion Steven Mullaney the key to a 224-run first-innings lead for Nottinghamshire after Luke Fletcher’s career-best six for 24.

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He said: “We started the day with a plan to get a couple out before the second new ball to put us in a good position so to get seven in the session was wonderful.

“My rhythm has felt good in this game, it felt like something clicked compared with previous games. I’ve worked hard with Kevin Shine, our bowling coach, to try and get my action in a good place and, fingers crossed, it feels good.

“We’ve got two wins on the bounce now and after getting that monkey off our backs last week by finally getting a win on the board against Derbyshire, to back it up against the champions of the last two years and win by an innings is a great effort and fingers crossed we can keep it going.”

Unbeaten on 60 at Friday’s close, Nick Browne looked like Essex’s best chance of a fightback but had added only four more when Luke Fletcher had him caught behind, and after a double-wicket maiden from James accounted for Ryan Ten Doeschate and Tom Westley, Essex lost their last six wickets for 29.

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Fletcher dealt Essex a major blow by removing Browne in the fifth over of the day.When James took over at the Radcliffe Road, he soon had Ten Doeschate leg before and followed up with a beauty two balls later to send Westley’s off stump cartwheeling.South African Dane Paterson took three for 41, before James ended a brief counter-attack by Paul Walter as Ben Duckett took a sharp catch at second slip.James was denied a maiden five-wicket haul when third slip Haseeb Hameed dropped Peter Siddle in the same over.