Date-stamped : 31 Jul96 - 02:16 NatWest Trophy, Quarter Final Hampshire v Essex Southhampton 30 July 1996 ====> REPORT Law restores order to Essex By D. J. Rutnagur at Southampton Essex (286) bt Hampshire (186) by 100 runs A PARTNERSHIP of 127 in 18 overs between Stuart Law, totally ir- repressible in scoring 107 off only 81 balls, and an ebullient Robert Rollins was Essex`s passport to the semi-finals. Law`s century, which contained nine fours and three sixes, was his 11th in all competitions and won him the Man of the Match award. Law`s latest century was his fourth in five innings against Hampshire - the first being last season, for the Young Aus- tralians. Although Graham Gooch and Darren Robinson had begun with a stand of 56, Essex were by no means flourishing when Law and Rol- lins came together in the 37th over. Gooch had worked hard to lay a foundation as the ball swung under an overcast sky and Shaun Udal also made it turn on a used pitch. Dropped at slip a couple of overs earlier, Gooch was caught from a pull. However, the capture of this prized wicket was a mixed blessing for Robin Smith bruised his hand badly in holding a cannonball of a shot. Hampshire removed Robinson and Nasser Hussain, playing his first innings since the Trent Bridge injury, in successive overs. Robinson missed a sweep at a ball from Udal and Hussain was caught behind cutting. A partial recovery ended with Paul Prichard and Ronnie Irani also being dismissed in close succession, both of them toppled by a former team-mate, John Stephenson. But Law had already imposed his authority on the bowling, and after lunch scored the second fifty to his hundred off only 32 balls. Rollins reached his half-century off 59. Hampshire were later at 123 for five in the 35th over, but had no batsman of Law`s class to revive them. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by Shash (shs2@*.cwru.edu)