A commanding century partnership between Dean Elgar and Tom Westley brought Essex to a strong position against champions Surrey, who were fresh off a week of celebrations. The two batsmen led Essex to 116 for 1 before heavy rain cut the day short just before lunch.
Surrey, coming off their third consecutive Vitality County Championship victory, struggled against Essex during the 28.5 overs that were possible before the weather intervened. Having won the toss, Essex took full advantage of Surrey's depleted bowling attack, with Elgar and Westley putting on 112 runs in just 26 overs.
Westley began cautiously but picked up pace as the partnership solidified, smashing 11 boundaries in his unbeaten 52 off 78 balls. Elgar, who reached the 1,000-run milestone for the season during his 54 not out, started aggressively but soon let his captain take charge of the run-scoring.
The day's play began promptly, despite the groundstaff having pumped out 4,500 litres of water from the field earlier in the morning. However, persistent rain returned before lunch, and by 2:30 pm, play was abandoned for the day.
Essex’s innings began poorly under cloudy skies, losing Robin Das for a six-ball duck after he edged Tom Lawes to the keeper, Josh Blake. This helped settle Blake's nerves as he made his first-class debut for Surrey alongside fellow debutants Ollie Sykes and Yousef Majid.
Elgar took control in the early stages of the innings, scoring three crisp boundaries off Kemar Roach and adding another to fine leg off Dan Lawrence, which brought him past 1,000 runs in his debut season for Essex. He reached his half-century with a single off James Taylor, marking his ninth fifty-plus score this year.
Meanwhile, Westley picked up his pace as rain clouds loomed. He notched his sixth fifty of the season, surpassing 700 runs for the year. Westley’s half-century, taking 76 balls, came just after the duo completed their century partnership. His aggressive play included three fours in a single over off Taylor and Lawrence, followed by a sharp pull backward of square off Taylor.
The rain may have halted play, but Essex's strong position has left Surrey with plenty of work to do when play resumes.