Essex beat dismal Bears by an innings at Edgbaston

Jamie Porter's nine wickets in the match took him past 50 for the season - for a seventh time in nine years

Vitality County Championship Division One, Edgbaston (day two)

Warwickshire 78: Snater 5-13, Porter 3-15, Cook 2-31 & 114: Briggs 51; Porter 6-36, Cook 3-36

Essex 232: Snater 69; Miles 4-58, Barnard 3-72, Hannon-Dalby 2-38

Essex (19 pts) beat Warwickshire (3 pts) by an innings and 40 runs

Match scorecard

Essex completed one of the easiest wins in their history as they beat embarrassed Warwickshire by an innings and 40 runs inside four and a half sessions at Edgbaston.

The Bears, still not mathematically safe from the threat of relegation and skittled for 78 on the first day, were bowled out in their second innings for 114.

Jamie Porter took 6-36 to finish with a nine-wicket match haul, but it was Sam Cook who did the main early damage, taking the first three Bears wickets in successive overs as the hosts slumped to 3-4.

That was after Essex had taken their overnight score to 232 - not enough to earn any batting bonus points - but enough to earn a first-innings lead of 154 and ultimately to win by an innings.

Essex, in third place, would have still been very much in the title race but for last week's 12-point 'wide bat' deduction. However, they can still play a part in the outcome of this year's County Championship title race, when they take on reigning champions Surrey at Chelmsford, starting next Thursday, when the Bears, with just one Championship win all season, head for Trent Bridge to face Nottinghamshire.

After Essex resumed on 189-9, the stunned Warwickshire fans had to suffer possibly the most shambolic morning's cricket ever seen at Edgbaston.

They watched in horrified silence as Shane Snater and last man Jamie Porter were allowed to add a further 43 runs in half an hour, helped by some almost comical fielding.

Snater added a further 24 to his overnight score of 33 before taking one yahoo too many and losing his middle stump to Craig Miles. And Porter, who has accumulated more first-class dismissals in his career than he has made runs, even managed a rare boundary, a square cut for four off Ed Barnard, as he ended on a season's best seven not out.

Then, when the Bears batted, suddenly it was carnage - as they lost their first four wickets for just three runs.

Cook had Rob Yates lbw in his first over, then bowled the departing Durham-bound Will Rhodes in his next, Sam Hain edged Porter to second slip, and Cook struck again to remove Hamza Shaikh's middle stump.

Porter then had Barnard caught behind and home skipper Alex Davies was trapped in front by Snater before the Bears finally got some respite to lunch on 52-6.

Danny Briggs (51) resisted along with Michael Burgess (28) in a stand of 71.

But once Briggs departed to Porter, he wrapped it up very quickly, getting the last three wickets too - Miles second ball, Burgess caught on the long-on boundary, and then limping last man Chris Rushworth, fourth ball, to complete a season's best.

Warwickshire coach Mark Robinson told BBC Radio WM:

"That was a bruising one. Every now and again you get those. I don't think much more could have gone wrong. But I don't think any wicket is ever a 78 all-out wicket.

"The wicket had plenty in it, we lost the toss, then came across two of the best exponents in those conditions in the county game. Cook and Porter were outstanding and relentless and backed up by Snater.

"We were then right in it when they were 50-5 and it was still going round corners but Chris Rushworth goes down and we ran out of bowlers really.

"They got themselves a big lead on that wicket and then, under heavy skies, Porter repeated what he did in the first innings. It's one we have to take on the chin. We can't hide from it.

"It's not how we wanted to play our last home game of the season in front of our own supporters so there is a lot of hurt in the dressing room and feelings of letting people down. We just have to gather ourselves, dust down and get ready for next week."

Essex fast bowler Sam Cook told BBC Radio Essex:

"We couldn't have asked for much more than that - to win in a day and a half.

"It doesn't get much better than that, especially at Edgbaston where we have under-performed in the last few years.

"Jamie Porter bowled brilliantly again. He is just a special bowler. It has been a privilege to share the pitch and the new ball with him for all these years. He is so consistent every year, an amazing performer.

"To get the points deduction was frustrating but we can't control that, all we can do is control what happens on the pitch. We have responded with two very emphatic performances and hopefully can carry that on against Surrey next week."