Date-stamped : 15 May94 - 02:29 India vs Essex Chelmsford, August 11, 12, 13 - Drawn Essex never recovered from the shock of losing both their openers for only 2 runs on a lively pitch. The trio of Bedi, Chan- drasekhar and Venkataraghavan had the county in dire straits at 55 for 7 before Fletcher provided further proof of his recognised technique against the spinners. His 64 was a gem and his battle with Bedi an absorbing one, although it was Chandrasekhar who fi- nally ended his resistance of three hours. Fletcher's main sup- port came from Smith, the pair adding 90 to spare Essex from humiliation. Phillip claimed three early successes when the Indi- ans replied, but Yashpal came to the rescue with his third centu- ry of the tour. He hit 15 boundaries and received sound support from Armanath, who returned to complete his 50 after retiring with blurred vision. McEwan, with the help of three 6's and eight 4's, thrashed 68 in only 41 minutes when Essex fared much better second time around. Denness, Gooch, Smith and Pont also batted attractively to make up the time lost earlier through the weath- er. The Indians never accepted the challenge of scoring 227 for victory in three hours and the match petered out into a tame draw. Contributed by cp (help@cricinfo.com)