Picture by Matt Lewis/Getty Images. Lauren Winfield-Hill poses with the Metro Bank One-Day Cup trophy at New Road on Sunday.
Lauren Winfield-Hill has revealed that July’s Vitality Blast final defeat against Middlesex gave Yorkshire that extra edge to get over the line in Sunday’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup equivalent.
Winfield-Hill’s White Rose ended the season with the biggest of bangs, dismantling a 20-over chase of 128 to beat Glamorgan at Worcester’s New Road.
The captain herself contributed 62, as did unbeaten opening partner Erin Thomas, whose score was a career best.
Earlier in the day, leg-spinner Olivia Thomas excelled with 3-14 from four overs to limit Glamorgan to 127-5. She was honoured as player-of-the-match.
It was a stunning performance which was a far cry from the one Winfield-Hill and co put in at Northampton a month-and-a-half ago when Middlesex beat them by 10 wickets chasing only 102.
“There was a lot of hurt after that T20 final,” said the wicketkeeper-opener.
“We just didn’t play the way in which we’d played the rest of the season, really. But that (Sunday) was a continuation of what we’d been doing.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Lauren Winfield-Hill and Maddie Ward hold the trophy and celebrates with their team-mates and coaches.
“It was a real complete performance.
“I think everyone was just really excited to get out there and to rewrite the wrongs.”
Winfield-Hill was full of praise for the two standout Thomas’s, starting with Olivia.
“Liv was awesome,” she continued. “She’s just gone from strength to strength and is growing and finding her feet at this level. I think she feels really backed in this group and valued.
“I see her as a real threat for me to go to and try and break the game open and take wickets. She’s been someone that I’ve turned to in those moments.
“She’s bowling with good control and pace at the minute.
“And the way she was up for it. Big people stand up in finals, and she stood up. She’s a real competitor.”
Picture by Matt Lewis/Getty Images. Lauren Winfield-Hill acknowledges the applause following her fifty against Glamorgan.
Winfield-Hill was also full of praise for Erin Thomas but also spoke about the chase more generally, one which was completed inside 12 overs. Those two shared a superb 127 for the first wicket.
“When I’m always chasing those scores, you can quite easily just coast into the game and try and bat through,” she said. “I was almost trying to be at eights and nines early rather than sixes and sevens and get ahead of the rate in case the rain did come.
“And that probably just helps me a little bit with my intent.
“The thing with myself and Ez (Erin Thomas) is that we’ve bounced off each other very well in terms of who starts and who catches up. It’s not always the same every game.
“Sometimes she’s got off to good starts and I’ve built into an innings.
“She was brilliant.”
Both Winfield-Hill and Thomas had reached 50 twice in the last three games of the competition – the perfect time to hit top form.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Lauren Winfield-Hill was full of praise for Olivia Thomas following her three wickets in the final.
“That was sort of key moving into the final,” she said. “It felt a lot different.
“We’ve had a lot of players playing really well in the last two or three games. So you’ve almost got that confidence within the group that you’ve got multiple players playing well.
“Maddie’s scored runs, Sterre’s scored runs, Campbell’s scored runs. And our bowlers have been bowling well.
“Woolly was exceptional (in the final). Langers, obviously. Everyone’s peaked at the right time, which is obviously really important in tournament play.
“We want a group of 15 to 20 players who are Tier 1 ready, and I think we’re building that.
“You’ve got a lot of people who have played a part who weren’t involved in the final. Amelia Love played her part at the start of the season, Elicia Pollard as well but she’s been injured.
“There’s been a lot of players who have contributed along the way. It’s easy to think the last three games is all that’s happened, but there’s a lot that’s unfolded before that.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Lauren Winfield-Hill also hailed the performance of opening partner Erin Thomas.
And, of course, Sunday was just another example of Lauren putting the ‘win’ in Winfield-Hill!
“Yes,” she laughed. “It’s nice.
“Someone was saying to me about being here or at the Caribbean Premier League. There was talks of me potentially going out there if we weren’t in finals.
“But it’s nice to share these special memories with the girls.
“It’s reward for everyone’s work. The staff have worked so hard. The way in which everybody’s gone about this year, it’s just nice to see some reward.
“It just gives us great confidence into next year.”
