Jonny Tattersall is urging his Yorkshire team-mates to take inspiration from their good run of form in the second half of the recent Royal London One-Day Cup as they bid to get their Vitality Blast campaign off to a flyer on Thursday.
The Vikings wicketkeeper batsman will make his T20 debut in the home clash with Durham Jets at Emerald Headingley (6.30pm).
Yorkshire are aiming to secure a third Finals Day appearance since the start of T20 cricket in England in 2003 and a maiden title.
They will come up against a Jets side including overseas duo Tom Latham and Imran Tahir as well as England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who makes his comeback from a hamstring injury. If Stokes comes through the clash, he will return to the England squad currently involved in a T20 series with India.
For Yorkshire, confidence is high, insists 23-year-old Tattersall.
To reach the semi-finals of the RL50, they won five games on the bounce, including tight ones against Derbyshire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire and, in the quarter-final, Essex.
“Winning those tight games, as we have done, it should put us in good stead for the Twenty20s,” said Tattersall.
“After we were washed out against Notts at home midway through the group stage, we went on a run of four or five wins and built plenty of momentum.
“It’s a funny one isn’t it. When you win, you want to be hammering teams. But when you do get home in a tight one, you probably take more from it.
“Hopefully we can find our feet quickly in the first couple of games and get some wins like we did in the 50 overs, albeit that was at the back end rather than the start.
“We have definitely got the squad. I think we get the England lads back for the second half of the competition. But the other lads in the squad are more than capable of stepping in at the start. We also have plenty of talent in the seconds as well.”
