Northamptonshire charged to their first Championship victory of the season by ten wickets after a sensational run chase against fellow Division One strugglers Essex at Wantage Road.

The visitors looked to be easing their way to safety at 283-5 just after tea, with opener Paul Grayson still going strong.

But his dismissal – leg-before to Paul Taylor's occasional left-arm spin for 149 – turned the match, and Essex then lost their last four wickets for just two runs in 28 balls and were all out for 297 to give Northants a chance.

The target was 95 in 15 overs, and with Mike Hussey picking up where he left off in the first innings the hosts got there at 96-0 with four of those overs to spare.

Hussey followed his record-breaking 329 in the first innings with an unbeaten 70 off just 33 balls in the second, including a six and 11 fours, and was on the field for the entire duration of the match.

The result was desperately hard luck on Grayson, who became only the second Essex batsman – after Graham Gooch in 1990 – to score two hundreds in a match against Northants. His second effort lasted just over five hours with 22 boundaries.

David Ripley's men managed only one breakthrough in the morning session, removing Darren Robinson for 31, and with Grayson and Stuart Law (48) together a draw looked the most likely outcome.

But off-spinner Jason Brown plugged away for a season's-best 5-107 in 40.2 overs, and Hussey was on hand to administer the knock-out punch to the first division's bottom team.

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