Braintree Cricket Club are back on top in the race for the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship top flight.

The bowling figures of Barry Stephens caught the eye once more as the spinner’s six for nine from 5.2 overs helped ease them to a six-wicket victory at long Melford and, with title rivals Copford losing, the win took Braintree back to the summit of division two.

But while it was the individual display of Stephens, who has now taken 27 wickets in six games, that stood out, vice-captain Will Jackson said their opening bowlers laid the platform for the spinner to shine.

He said: “It was a massive win as it took us back top and that’s a huge boost psychologically with a quarter of the season gone.

“It was a resounding win to be honest.

“The opening bowlers – Ben Golds and Dan Garner – did very well, working together for the first 15 overs and made sure they were restricted to a slow start.

“That meant that when the ball was ready, we could throw it to Barry and he ripped through the middle order.

“It came at the perfect time and even though Barry will get all the plaudits, the opening bowling attacking did very well.

“They always want to bowl as many overs as possible and managed to pin them down and created chances.”