George Hill delights bumper Scarborough crowd with match-winning century against Worcestershire

There is something about this timeless amphitheatre, tucked away amid the streets and houses, like some precious jewel hidden among the pebbles of a beach, that is a panacea for any number of ills.

“Once visited, Scarborough takes hold of you inexorably,” wrote JM Kilburn, once of this parish. “One visit leads to another, until the succession has turned to ritual and the spell is laid never to be broken.”

It always helps when Yorkshire win, and on a day when North Marine Road was visited by intermittent sunshine, along with 3,366 spectators, they did so by four wickets with 16 balls remaining, overhauling Worcestershire’s 246-8 in an excellent performance by a young team.

George Hill led the way with 130, his maiden one-day hundred, a terrific innings by a 21-year-old with a very bright future, made from 131 balls with 16 fours and a six.

Victory was Yorkshire’s second in three Royal London Cup games and a fine response to the seven-wicket defeat to Lancashire at York last Thursday, which followed on from the 33-run triumph at the same venue against Northamptonshire two days earlier.

On Wednesday, the show moves on to Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, for the first of four away matches before Yorkshire conclude their group campaign back at Scarborough on August 23 – only a fortnight or so to wait, then, before we can once more fall under Scarborough’s spell.

Part of its appeal, in purely cricketing terms, are the pitches prepared by groundsman John Dodds. Rather like a box of Quality Street (other confectionery choices are available), there is something for everyone, providing plenty of carry and good value for shots.

They reward good bowling, and there was plenty of that in the early stages after Yorkshire 
captain Jonny Tattersall chose to insert.

Matthew Waite and Ben Coad were superb, setting the tone with disciplined bowling that left the score standing at 27-2 from 10 overs at the conclusion of their opening spells. Both wickets fell to Waite, who had Ed Pollock chopping on as he tried to run the all-rounder through the offside and then Azhar Ali held at mid-off.

Worcestershire slipped to 52-3 in the 16th when Gareth Roderick pulled Tom Loten to deep square-leg, but Kashif Ali, a 24-year-old product of the South Asian Cricket Academy, played some fine shots, not least when using his feet to launch spinner Jack Shutt for six over long-off. Kashif, 24, has a backlift so high that it sticks up above his helmet like a periscope as he waits to receive the ball. Yorkshire were pleased to see the back of him when he tried to cut Shutt and was caught behind, leaving the visitors 94-4 in the 26th.

Waite returned to have Ed Barnard pulling to deep mid-wicket, where Dom Bess judged a good catch that had threatened to carry him over the rope in front of the Popular Bank. It is a partisan section of the ground before which no Yorkshire player would wish to drop a chance, but it is perhaps the best place on the ground to take one, as the cheers that resounded in Bess’s ears testified.

Worcestershire were indebted to Ben Cox and Jake Libby for raising a competitive score. Libby, the captain, was necessarily watchful in reaching 58 from 92 balls with just three fours, his innings ending with an ugly hoick and skied catch off Coad to the keeper.

Taylor Cornell was bowled by Bess, who trapped Cox leg-before in the final over, reverse-sweeping, but not before the Worcestershire wicketkeeper had thumped 70 from 46 deliveries with seven fours and three sixes.

Will Fraine and Will Luxton fell early in Yorkshire’s response, the hosts slipping to 10-2 inside three overs. Fraine was lbw to Joe Leach, although he looked to have hit the ball, and Luxton was caught behind off Dillon Pennington. When Harry Duke was caught behind off Adam Finch, Yorkshire were 37-3 in the 11th and an air of concern fell on the stadium. In the Roses game at York, the hosts’ batting had disintegrated and they had struggled to build partnerships. Would the same thing reoccur?

The answer, thanks first to Hill and Tattersall, was “no” as they shared 87 for the fourth-wicket in 95 balls. Tall and strong, Hill drove and pulled powerfully while Tattersall, ever busy, worked nicely off his pads to give the chase some much needed structure.

After reaching a 47-ball fifty, Hill was dropped at deep mid-wicket on 53 by Roderick off Leach, a key moment. Tattersall played on to Pennington to leave Yorkshire 124-4 in the 27th, but another stand blossomed as Hill and Waite added 96 in 92 balls to bring the target into view.

Waite was also dropped at deep mid-wicket, by substitute Olly Davidson off Azhar, with 22 to his name and the score 181-4.

Hill reached his hundred from 96 balls to emphatically end a run of four ducks in seven innings. Waite was then run-out after Hill pushed into the offside, and then Hill picked out long-on in the dying stages, departing to the strains of a standing ovation after an innings to match the glorious surrounds.