ESSEX moved within touching distance of a place in the quarter-finals of the One-Day Cup when they beat Middlesex by six-wickets at Colchester.

Replying to a total of 296-5, they reached their target with 17 balls to spare, with Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara both completing half-centuries. Nick Browne and Jesse Ryder also made their presence felt with 38 runs each as they made full use of a friendly pitch and bowling.

Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate admitted it had been a satisfying 24 hours for his side.

“Our bowlers really won the match for us at Hampshire on Tuesday and then our batters did the job against Middlesex,” he said.

“I always thought that the target Middlesex set was within our capabilities but all our batsmen made significant contributions to make the job easier.

“We have shown what we can do in the last two games as a unit but I still believe that there is more to come from this team.”

Westley, fresh from his half-century in the victory against Hampshire, shared in half-centuries with Browne and Bopara before he departed lbw to Neil Dexter after making 56.

Ryder, displaying his usual aggression, was magnificently caught by a leaping Gurjit Sandhu at mid-off to provide spinner Ollie Rayner with success.

Once he had departed, Bopara ensured Essex reached the winning post without too much trouble. Bopara and ten Doeschate reached the winning post ith an unbroken stand of 96 in 12 overs.

Bopara finished with 82 while ten Doeschate made 45 from 32 balls.

Earlier 21-year-old Nick Gubbins confirmed his promise with a fluent 96 after Middlesex had been put into bat. He was eventually caught by Westley on the deep mid-wicket boundary.

But the real momentum for Middlesex was provided by James Franklin as he smashed 63 before holing out to ten Doeschate.

Sam Robson and Andrew Balbirnie gathered 46 and 41 respectively to help ensure Essex were left with a sizeable challenge.

In the end, it was one that never seriously tested them as they eased their way to 297-4 and a fourth victory in this season’s competition.