An unbroken stand of 143 in 33 overs between Ravi Bopara and Neil Dexter has left Essex on the verge of a victory and a sour taste in Gloucestershire's mouth.

Jon Lewis, the Gloucestershire captain, had to be physically restrained throughout the final half-hour that Essex had claimed. At the end of 96 overs, just after 6pm, Lewis, began leading his troops from the field.

Bopara, who had taken the game away from Gloucestershire with some sumptuous shots, and Dexter did not move from the middle. With Essex needing 64 from the minimum of eight overs they would receive, Nigel Cowley and Ian Gould, the umpires, had no choice but to stay out there.

Essex had scored 67 off the previous 13 overs and done just enough to force their case, with Bopara having reached his fifty in dismissive fashion, whipping Steve Kirby off his hip for four.

But in reality Essex seemed unlikely to chase the runs and were seeking only to ram home their advantage. Ultimately, they did not even try and made only 33 from the nine overs that they received, which did not improve Lewis's mood and may yet be an issue for the umpires to pursue. Lewis took particular exception to Dexter and rarely left his side between overs.

Dexter, in wretched form, seemed only inspired and moved to his first fifty for Essex in his second month on loan from Kent.

Both captains were spoken to by the umpires after the game.

The victory should have come much earlier in the day, but Essex were on the back foot when they slipped to seven for two in the tenth over, chasing 181 to win.

Chris Taylor ran out Varun Chopra with a direct hit, after the batsman had “dropped and ran” into the covers. But Bopara was serene. Only once in eight championship matches has he failed to score a fifty this season and the way he did it sucked any hope from Gloucestershire.

Resuming on 70 for six, Kadeer Ali and Steve Snell showed great application for the visiting team in extending their partnership to 85 off 55 overs.

Essex got almost everything wrong in the field. Five catches went down either side of lunch and tea, three off the bowling of Graham Napier. But, perversely, Mark Pettini, the Essex captain, did not bowl James Middlebrook from the Hayes Close End, where he had been so dangerous the night before, or David Masters, until after tea.

The last four wickets fell in the space of nine overs after Snell edged Masters to Dexter at second slip in the 85th over, with Gloucestershire 181 ahead. Danish Kaneria took the last two wickets to finish with 5 for 53, his third five-wicket haul of the season and 16th in 37 first class matches for Essex.

Scoreboard

Gloucestershire: First Innings 275 (M J North 98; G R Napier 4 for 50)

Second Innings (overnight 70-6)
K Ali c Dexter b Masters 43
S D Snell c Dexter b Masters 53
M A Hardinges c and b Kaneria 18
*J Lewis c Bopara b Kaneria 6
S P Kirby not out 0
Extras (lb 5) 5

Total (93.3 overs)184

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-31, 3-48, 4-60, 5-64, 6-68, 7-153, 8-170, 9-183.

Bowling: Masters 14-4-37-3; Napier 23-4-62-0; Kaneria 32.3-10-53-5; Middlebrook 15-7-15-2; Bopara 5-1-7-0; Ten Doeschate 4-2-5-0.

Essex: First Innings 279 (J S Foster 57; S P Kirby 5 for 60)

Second Innings
V Chopra run out 4
J E R Gallian b Kirby 1
N J Dexter not out 60
R S Bopara not out 83
Extras (nb 2) 2

Total (2 wkts, 43 overs) 150

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-7.

Bowling: Kirby 12-3-22-1; Lewis 12-5-24-0; Hardinges 4-0-22-0; Banerjee 10-1-52-0; Taylor 2-0-14-0; North 3-0-16-0.

Umpires: N G Cowley and I J Gould.

Explore Cricket

• Counties

• Live Scores