He sent down 18 wicketless overs for 49 as former South Africa captain Dean Elgar held centre stage for the hosts at Chelmsford on Tuesday.
Elgar was an immovable object, hitting an unbeaten 140 to put Essex on track to build a big lead over Durham
Replying to 333 all out, Elgar spent over five-and-a-half hours at the crease as he shepherded the hosts to 3-312. Matt Critchley proved the ideal foil for the opener, sharing in a stand of 154, and will resume on day three on 97 not out.
England seamer Josh Tongue has continued to make hay against his former club, pushing title hopefuls Nottinghamshire towards a winning position against Worcestershire.
Tongue matched his first-innings haul of three wickets at New Road, dismissing the Pears' top three as they crumbled to 5-93 on the second day.
The Division One strugglers hold a lead of just 68 and will need to battle hard to avert a three-day defeat that could temporarily lift Nottinghamshire back ahead of Surrey at the top of the table.
But the Brown Caps are in no mood to let their title defence slip, having taken control of their clash against Warwickshire.
Returning Test seamer Gus Atkinson took three wickets and Tom Lawes four as the Bears were bowled out for 248 at The Oval - just two runs in front.
But three consecutive top-order fifties, from captain Rory Burns, leading run-scorer Dom Sibley and England vice-captain Ollie Pope nudged the scales as Surrey closed on 1-181.
Tom Abell racked up a century as Somerset kept reached 6-391 on the second day of their Taunton clash against Yorkshire.
Abell was three not out overnight and fell just before bad light ended things, reaching three figures with a reverse sweep and finishing with 130.
