Stuart Law smashed his first century of the summer as Essex gained a slender first innings lead of 24 over Yorkshire at Chelmsford.

While his countrymen were suffering a shock defeat against New Zealand in the World Cup on Thursday, the 30-year-old Australian was underlining his vast talents with a magnificent 159 which guided Essex to a total of 335.

Law did receive one big slice of luck along the way. When on 21, he edged to second slip where David Byas put down the catch.

For the next three hours or so, the Yorkshire skipper was made to suffer for his lapse as the Essex star showed what a class act he is.

Now fully recovered from the shoulder problem which restricted him last summer, Law played with a freedom others could not match.

He always seemed to have more time to play his shots than anyone else, often penetrating the field with blistering drives either side of the wicket.

Law was certainly in no mood to hang around in the so-called nervous nineties.

He moved to his century with 6, 4, 4 from successive deliveries sent down by left arm spinner Ian Fisher, the first a mighty, straight drive which vanished into nearby gardens.

In all Law gathered 19 fours in addition to that six, his 220-ball stay eventually ending when he was yorked by Matthew Hoggard.

Ronnie Irani and Paul Grayson provided the most productive support for Law, sharing in partnerships of 95 and 94.

Irani fell just two short of his 50 when driving Greg Blewitt, while Grayson contributed just 22 before Craig White nipped one through his defence.

Law's departure saw Essex on 292-6 and it was left to Barry Hyam to try and guide the county to their first maximum haul of batting points since 1997.

He failed in that mission because he ran out of partners, but his unbeaten 31 provided further evidence that he possesses the talent to become a formidable asset in the middle order.

Earlier in the day, Ashley Cowan and Mark Ilott needed only 6.2 overs to capture Yorkshire's last three wickets for the addition of just seven runs to their overnight total of 304-7.

Cowan and off-spinner Peter Such each finished with three wickets, as did Hoggard and White when Essex replied.

The latter struck twice in an over to bring the Essex innings to a conclusion, but bad light prevented Yorkshire from attempting to clear the arrears.

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