County Championship: Essex fight back against Leicestershire

Angus Robson has passed 50 on 23 occasions, but only reached a century twice

Essex fought back strongly with the ball to earn a narrow 25-run first-innings lead against Leicestershire.

After Monday's washout at Chelmsford, the home side only added two runs to their 266-9 before Clint McKay took the final wicket for figures of 4-47.

Leicestershire reached 128-1, but after Angus Robson went for 74, they were bowled out for 243 in 78 overs.

David Masters and Ravi Bopara each took three wickets for Essex, who were 22-1 at stumps, extending their lead to 47.

However, a draw appears the most likely result on the final day, barring a dramatic collapse by one of the two sides.

Robson hit 10 fours in his 135-ball innings, and shared a stand of 88 with Neil Dexter (33), but Mark Pettini (36) was the only other batsman to pass 20 in the Leicestershire innings.

Former Kent seamer Masters needs only five more victims to reach 650 wickets in first-class cricket following his 3-33, which included the wicket of Robson, who was caught behind.