Lancashire eventually beat Essex by 38 runs in a match both sides will want to forget as quickly as possible as a total of 370 runs were scored between them over two innings - the worst total in 42 years.
After 26 wickets fell in the opening day at Chelmsford any hopes of a third or fourth days play were quickly over as even less runs were scored on the second day. The Red Roses, third in the County Championship table, feared defeat after being bowled out for 73 in their second innings after an opening innings of 131.
However, a hat-trick for pace bowler George Balderson stunned Essex as Sir Alastair Cook high scored on 14 as the hosts were skittled out for a measly 59 following their 107 first innings total. It meant that Lancashire won by 38 runs.
And after the match, cricket statistician Andrew Samson tweeted: "370 runs in Essex v Lancashire match is the lowest in a County Championship match with 40 wickets falling since 1980."
He added that Essex were also involved in the low scoring game 42 years ago when 362 runs were scored as Essex beat Kent at Folkestone.
It was a pitch on which the pace bowlers shined as Shane Snater took six wickets for Essex in Lancashire's second innings.
"We've got lads in really good form having really good seasons who are desperate to win a game, and they've just found the pitch unplayable really," said Lancashire coach Glen Chapple talking to the BBC after the first day.
"I thought we scrapped brilliantly to get to what we did to be honest. Obviously the surface of the pitch looks poor. The ball is coming off it different every time. If you watch the batters' innings through they can't lay a bat on it."
Cook was the only batsman who got a handle on the Essex leading the way with 40 runs in the first innings and 14 in the second.
Essex spinner Simon Harmer blamed the low scoring game on the batsman and not the pitch. Talking to the BBC, he said: "For 26 wickets to fall in a day is unprecedented, but I think if you look back at some of the dismissals a lot of them were batter-error. So it wasn't all down to the wicket."
