A game that was destined for a draw once hail swept Fenner's on Sunday was punctuated again by three light showers on Monday, ensuring that Essex used the afternoon and evening sessions purely for batting practice.

To the big hundreds made by Mark Pettini and Ryan ten Doeschate on the first day, Varun Chopra and Jason Gallian added a pair of brisk fifties and Tom Westley, the teenaged all-rounder, got some useful time in the middle.

Doeschate, completing an over from the previous day, had Richard Timms caught behind for 31 off his second ball, but the University ended any fears of defeat with a mature partnership of 110 for the fourth wicket, with Kunal Jogia making 58 before being caught at slip by Gallian and Nick Lee, the captain, being unbeaten on 48 when the first shower came.

Lunch was taken an over early, during which Cambridge, to Essex's pleasure, decided to declare 216 runs behind. Chopra picked up a couple of runs on the resumption only for rain to return.

At last, Essex emerged again at 3pm in aggressive mood. Chopra set the early pace, with successive cover-driven fours in the fourth over, before Gallian took on Mohammad Amin. At tea, after 11 overs, Essex were 67 for no loss. The tempo increased again, Chopra moving to 49 with a driven six off Jogia's spin, and the opener reached 50 off 56 balls before another brief rain interruption.

He departed soon after, prodding a catch to short mid-wicket, leaving Gallian to provide some fireworks, smiting two big sixes and a tenth four before being caught on the mid-wicket boundary. The former England opener missed making a hundred on debut, but his 79 came off only 59 balls and he appears to have been a fine off-season signing.