Ochwo inspires 2's to opening day win

Scorecard: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/ingatestonefryerningcc/teams/154300/match-centre/0-3625039

With Lee Ramduth wheeling away on Canvey with the 1's and Matt Friend taking charge of the sharp end of the Essex football season, Craig Ivey led out a youthful 2nd XI against last season's relegated side from Division One, Ingatestone and despite a grey sky overhead, a fine looking M&B strip persuaded Ivey to bat first upon winning the toss.

That looked to be a good decision as despite the early loss of Aaron Scott, later on a pull shot than he was to bed (which is saying something considering the previous evening saw him rolling home in the early hours after several hours of drinking and singing "it's happened again" to anybody passing who wasn't wearing claret & blue) the under 15 pairing of Atkins and Gillham batted nicely to reach 53-1 before Atkins was caught on the crease to one that went straight on from visiting spinner Jeater.

Gillham continued on serenely however following a ton the previous day for Robert Clack in the Essex Cup and despite the loss of Friend for 10 and Puncher for 9, at 114-4, with batting specialist Israel Ochwo new to the crease, Brook were looking to push on to the score of 200 that the pitch demanded.

The Ingatestone spinners threw a spanner into those works however, with Gillham departing for 62 to Jeater following a shuffle across and an attempted sweep that missed everything and then Ivey followed quickly to a fine caught and bowled low down by visiting skipper Grobler to leave the innings in the balance. That brought the towering (and ageing) figure of Richie Williams to the crease to join Ochwo who was just starting to warm to this batting lark.

The pair have batted together numerous times before, usually for the last 2 overs after a 1s middle order collapse, and after a bit of nudging and nurdling, with 5 overs to go and the score at 160-6, both men decided to go for it. Initially that meant hitting the ball straight up in the air just short of a fielder, but when Ochwo finally popped one up to extra cover, Ingatestone looked to have made the breakthrough. Amazingly the simplest of chances was shelled however and from that point on, the ball rarely struck anything but the middle of the bat.

Ochwo accelerated to a maiden Goresbrook 50 with 3 big straight sixes and Williams followed up with 2 maximums to finish on 42* as 45 runs were plundered from the final 3 overs, sending the 2's into tea on a high at 218-6 and leaving Ingatestone wondering how things had manage to escalate so quickly.

Following a more than adequate tea with a variety of healthy salad and vegetable based dishes that were almost entirely lost on the 2's, Forward and Williams opened proceedings with some tidy stuff, building up some pressure before one of the Ingatestone openers completely assassinated the other after hitting the ball straight to Alfie Atkins at point. Williams then bowled the number 3 first ball and suddenly the Goats were in the ascendancy. That lasted about an over as the sturdy Grobler came out bristling with intent and started to bash anything wide or full towards open green spaces.

With Batchelor at the other end unveiling the odd drive through the covers in support of his skipper, Ingatestone accelerated to 112-2 at the 25 over mark and were looking well placed for a winning chase until the introduction of Ochwo for what amounted to a 6 over fitness test. Izzy's spell yielded the big wicket of Grobler, caught low to the ground at backward point by Billy Parnell and the paceman then dismissed new man Jeater, who was comprehensively bowled playing back to a fullish ball, and Hodgson who was beaten all ends up by a slower ball, the change-ups being much better directed than many of Izzy's faster ones at this stage, as keeper Gillham was a regular visitor to the floor diving down the legside.

Lee Jones also had Batchelor caught by Daryl Forward at cover during the Ochwo spell and from 112-2 Ingatestone declined to 132-6, which was pretty much the game, a fine cameo from number 7 Todd who made 30 nothwithstanding. Craig Ivey's sharking instincts proved undiminished, as (with Lawrence Walsh's temporary retirement) the club's foremost prime-time wicket taker grabbed 3 more tail end wickets for 25, Billy Parnell also being rewarded for a fine spell with an lbw decision to end proceedings on 178.

All in all a good effort from the 2's featuring four under 17's, admittedly bolstered by Izzy, who looks restored to fitness, which is good news for everybody except Premier Division batsmen. With Matt Friend, Squeaky and Joe Curley expected to be available in forthcoming weeks, the 2's will be looking to get some wins on the board early on before the holiday season selection bites again.