George Hill has admitted his relief at ending a difficult run of personal form in grand style with a fabulous match-winning century against Worcestershire at Scarborough.
Hill came in at 10-2 as the Vikings pursued 247 in today’s Royal London Cup clash, him finishing with 130 off 131 balls in a four-wicket win.
When he was out with six needed, the game had long been wrapped up.
Yorkshire’s second win in three Group B games came also thanks to an excellent all-round contribution of 3-21 and 36 from Matthew Waite.
Hill, 21, shared partnerships of 87 and 96 with captain Jonny Tattersall and then Waite.
Prior to today, in both Championship and RL50, Hill had posted four ducks in his last seven innings, including three of them here at North Marine Road.
“I haven’t really scored the runs I could or should have, so it’s nice to contribute to a win,” he said. “But I had a quite a bit of luck at times today.
“Up top, Coady and Waitey bowled beautifully. They were 30-odd for three after 10. It was quite a tricky wicket. It nibbled around early doors and it was quite bouncy – not particularly quick but tennis ball bounce.
“It definitely got a lot easier to bat on after the first 10 overs (of our innings). It got quicker and stopped nibbling.
“Having not scored the runs I’d have liked lately, I went out there trying to be positive. I spoke to Ali Maiden and Tom Smith, and it was more of a mindset thing.
“There was also a technical twitch I’ve worked on. I went to see Martin Speight (his former Sedbergh School teacher) the other day, and that seems to have worked.”
Yorkshire’s victory was set up by a polished display with the ball and in the field as the Rapids were restricted to 246-8, Ben Coad also impressing with 1-29 from 10 overs and Dom Bess adding two wickets.
“Had we executed our plans a bit better towards the end, we could have restricted them further,” said Hill. “But we could almost afford that with the way we bowled in the first 45 overs.
“Our energy was a lot better in the field (than the Lancashire game at York on Thursday). I feel like the boys fizzed around a lot, attacking balls and taking catches.”
Hill is currently playing as a specialist batter as he recovers from a fractured left big toe, suffered when he was trapped lbw by Jamie Overton in the Championship defeat here against Surrey last month.
Reflecting again on his recent run of poor form, he added: “Definitely, my confidence was shot. It was affecting my fielding, and I also miss bowling.
“I know I don’t bowl as much as I’d like, but having that mentality of just being a batter adds more pressure. So it was a bit of relief to contribute to the win.”
Yorkshire’s next game is against reigning champions Glamorgan at Cardiff on Wednesday (11am).
They have won their first two games of this year’s competition. Yorkshire are fourth in the table as they pursue a top three finish for knockout qualification, level on four points with the Welshmen but with an inferior net run-rate.
