Date-stamped : 30 Jun97 - 06:19 Essex go top of class after maths By Paul Newman at Southend Essex (205-7) bt Derbyshire (121-7) by one run BOTH the weather and the opposition were kind to Essex when they brushed Derbyshire aside in the championship at Southchurch Park. Yesterday it was the turn of the Duck- worth-Lewis method to lend a hand. Essex looked dead and buried as Derbyshire made a positive re- ply to the home side`s below-par 205 for seven. Yet when the rain in- tervened, with Derbyshire on 56 without loss, the spectator- unfriendly method of recalculating a target took over to provide a hectic finish. Derbyshire, asked to score 122 from 23 overs, a further 66 from 11 overs, brought the equation down to eight required from the last over, bowled by Paul Grayson. Paul Aldred managed only a single with two required from the last ball, Danny Law`s poor throw from cover being somehow gathered by a scampering Robert Rollins who ran him out as he went for a second. Most spectators presumed that the game was tied. Yet this is not, apparently, allowed by Messrs Duckworth and Lewis, and their verdict was that Essex had won by one run. With Lancashire losing yes- terday, they now go top of the Sunday table by two points to add to their one-point championship lead. Derbyshire, so disappointing when crumbling to defeat on Sat- ur- day, were far more spirited yesterday, Kevin Dean replacing the rested Devon Malcolm on a slow pitch and claiming the wickets of Paul Prichard, Nasser Hussain and Stuart Law before the fifth over was completed. From then on, Essex were always on the back foot. That they reached respectability was firstly due to the recu- perative powers of Ronnie Irani and Grayson, who added 81 in 20 overs, and then the more bludgeoning approach of Danny Law, Dar- ren Robinson and Ashley Cowan. Cowan, in particular, showed that there is more to his game than the swing bowling which has taken him to the brink of the England team by smiting two sixes as 28 came from the last two overs. It looked, though, as if his efforts would be in vain when Chris Adams and Adrian Rollins led the calmly efficient Der- byshire reply. That, however, went out of the window in the late flurry of wickets and confusion, Essex celebrating an unlikely triumph at 7.40pm. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)