ESSEX lost a wicket off the first ball of the day, batted for 10 overs without bails on the stumps and seemed to take inspiration from this peculiar start at Headingley yesterday to book a place in their sixth Benson and Hedges Cup final.

Thanks largely to Nasser Hussain's lordly 78 - once he had survived a full-tilt collision with Richard Blakey during a quick single - Essex could contemplate winning this trophy in the competition's final year for the first time since their sole success in 1979.

Essex, with Hussain setting the example, batted positively all through, whether wickets were slipping away or not, and Yorkshire were unable to match this fluency and spark.

The strong morning breeze made jumping beans of the bails, which had to be removed until heavy lignum ones could be found, and Chris Silverwood's first delivery pinned Darren Robinson lbw.

Despite the whiff of gunshot, Hussain still went for his drives on this slow, awkward strip on his way to 78 off 122 balls. He lost a resourceful partner in Ronnie Irani, and Stephen Peters was run out, underestimating Michael Vaughan's boundary throw.

When Hussain finally missed a swinging delivery from Ryan Sidebottom, Danny Law and Ashley Cowan carried on with an unbroken tail-end-stand of 56 in 37 balls. Yorkshire were halfway to defeat.

Hussain and his colleagues batted well enough to suggest the absence of the injured Darren Gough from Yorkshire's attack was important rather than critical.

Yorkshire never came to terms with the asking rate against seam or spin, opting for caution and orthodoxy when something different was needed.

Darren Lehmann, predictably, attempted to repair some damage, but the cause was not helped when Anthony McGrath, out of touch, played two maidens against Peter Such's off-spin. The suffering McGrath did not manage a boundary until his 75th ball.

This was Yorkshire's fourth semi-final defeat in four years in the two competitions. Byas knows his team have quality but, at the age of 35, he must be wondering if he will ever savour the major success he deserves as captain.