Gary Ballance admitted his delight at putting Yorkshire in a healthy position at the end of day two against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge with a century on one of his favourite grounds.
The former White Rose skipper posted his second hundred of a season which has been disrupted by a spell on the sidelines due to fatigue like symptoms, ultimately forcing him to step down from his position.
Ballance, 28, hit his first century in the draw against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl in June, and here added a superb 104 to help Yorkshire reply to 448 with 258-4.
He was also backed up by Harry Brook’s 47 and Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s unbeaten 57.
Day two started with Notts advancing from 332-7 as eighth-wicket pair Samit Patel and Matt Milnes completed a 90-run stand.
“I think we’ve had a pretty good day, apart from that partnership early on from them,” said Ballance.
“But we took those last three wickets and then applied ourselves well with the bat. We played nicely and got ourselves to a decent score with a few wickets left for tomorrow.
“Both Harry and Tom played nicely and spent some time at the crease.
“Tom’s still there, and hopefully he can kick on tomorrow.
“There probably wasn’t as much movement today (as yesterday).
“It’s a pretty decent pitch, if a bit slow. It’s taking a bit of turn now. We’ll see how it plays tomorrow. But hopefully we can kick on and get close to their score and get a lead.
“I’m delighted to get a hundred.
“It’s been a tough few weeks, but I felt good out there.
“We’ve played on some tough pitches over the last few weeks, and it hasn’t been easy. But it’s good to kick on, which has given me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season. Hopefully there’s a few more to come.”
Day 2 highlights
Yorkshire are in a very strong position to draw the game, but a win is not out of the equation.
“We don’t want to look too far ahead,” said Ballance. “We just have to win the first hour tomorrow.
“If we win the first hour, bat well in that first session, we can see where that takes us.”
In 2014, when Yorkshire won here to win their first of back-to-back titles, Ballance scored 99.
“I remember that week very well,” he added.
“I wasn’t too bothered about that 99 because it was a great moment winning the Championship. But it is nice to get a hundred here.
“It’s one of my favourite grounds.”
