BRAINTREE Cricket Club captain Dan Garner felt it was their early efforts that underpinned a second win of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship season in a rain-affected fixture against Sudbury seconds.

Big hitting from Warren Celiz, Chris Leech and Barry Stephens in the opening part of their division two game, set hosts Braintree on their way to victory.

The game was reduced to 30 overs a side because of the wet weather, but Celiz blasted 102 from 57 balls, Leech 39 from 36 and Stephens 70 from 45 deliveries to set Sudbury a target of 265 for five

And, with bad weather closing in at the end but the rain holding off just enough, Braintree wrapped things up with a solid bowling display as Sudbury finished on 126 for eight to leave Garner pleased as his team bounced back from a defeat at Mildenhall in their previous outing.

The skipper said: "It was a very convincing win.

"Considering the weather and reduced game situation, I don’t think we could have done much better.

"I believe we won the game in the first innings.

"Warren Celiz come back into the side in his usual opening spot and dominated the Sudbury attack from the start, hitting 102 off 57 balls.

"He and Chris put on 143 for the first wicket, going at ten an over so that gave us a dream start.

"Barry then came in at four and followed Warren’s innings with 70 not out of 47 balls to give us a total of 265 for five.

"In the field, we knew time was an issue and the whole team put in a great effort getting through our overs quickly to ensure we could get the game finished.

"We would have liked to have taken all ten Sudbury wickets but to get the win was a great result considering.

"Barry and Louis (Cant) both bowled exceptionally well with a wet ball - Barry claimed four for 29 off ten overs and Louis took three for 36 off eight.

"We managed to get the end of the game in with minutes to spare before a shower came down.

"Given last weeks result it was important to gain as much as we could on other teams who couldn't finish their games."

Braintree are now back on their travels this weekend when they head to Clacton and Garner wants to ensure they take their strong home form on the road with them

He added: "As a team we need to adapt to situations and conditions away from home quickly.

"At Braintree we can look at a wicket and see how it’s going to play straight away but we may need to be more cautious at the start away from home to adapt and settle into the game.

"Once we win away, the confidence will build for away trips like we have when we are at home and hopefully we can consistently win away throughout the season.

"Unfortunately, though, we are having to change the team around again this week.

"We lose Dean Bass and Rory Ainsley due to work commitments, but we expect to have Will Jackson, Josh Newman and Dan Chalk back available for the trip to Clacton."