Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. George Hill on media duties this evening.
George Hill reflected on a missed opportunity as Yorkshire started their latest Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign with defeat against Hampshire at Scarborough today.
The White Rose were 84-0 chasing 321 and well on course to start their Group B campaign with a bang, only to fall to 270 all out against last year’s finalists, for whom Tom Prest made a century and Indian overseas debutant Ashutosh Sharma claimed three wickets with seam.
Will Luxton with 64 and Hill 61 led the way with the bat, but wickets fell at key times, including three run outs.
Hill said: “We’ve spoken about people in the top six seeing it through, being there at the end. Today was obviously a couple of nice starts, but nobody was there at the end.
“I thought 320 was pretty chaseable on that wicket and with a smaller boundary to one side and the wind going that way.
“We thought if we had wickets in hand towards the end, we’d be able to get 10 an over for the last 10, but it didn’t quite happen. They bowled well to be fair.
“They adapted a little bit quicker than we potentially did, and that’s probably the reason why they won I reckon.
“It was sort of similar to last year in that semi-final where we bowled really well for 30 overs, but I thought Prest and Lehmann batted really well in that middle phase. That meant they could go pretty hard towards that back end, and I think it was mis-execution from us more than anything.
“Myself included – me mainly, really – missed our death overs.
“We were good in phases, but 50-over cricket is a long time and you can’t be just good in phases in this sort of comp.
“But it’s a long comp, we’ve got seven more games to go, and it’s a massive weekend down in Swansea and Sussex.”
As Hill alluded to there, Yorkshire play on Friday and Sunday away against Glamorgan at Neath and then against Sussex at Hove.
