Lyth backs Yorkshire's talent to take them long way in T20

Yorkshire's challenge was beginning to falter after they lost four of their opening six matches in the North Division.

But Sunday's thumping nine-wicket victory at Leicestershire, followed by Tuesday's even more convincing 104-run triumph at home to Worcestershire, has put Yorkshire back in the hunt for a knockout place.

Those wins propelled them to fifth in the table – one place outside a quarter-final berth – as they go into the first of their remaining eight group matches against leaders Nottinghamshire at Headingley Carnegie this evening (5.30pm start).

"We've got ourselves into a good position now to reach the quarter-finals," said Lyth, who top-scored against Worcestershire with a magnificent 59 from just 24 balls.

"If we can get another win against Nottinghamshire and then follow-up with another victory against Leicestershire at Headingley on Sunday, we'll be well on the road to the knockout stage.

"We were a bit inconsistent at the start of the tournament but hopefully now we've got things together. I think we've got the talent to go far in this competition and the lads are playing with plenty of confidence."

Lyth only played against Worcestershire because Jacques Rudolph had a shoulder injury.

The South African will also miss tonight's match but hopes to return for the Leicestershire game, which will start at 11am instead of 2.30pm to enable fans to watch England's World Cup second-round football match on the Headingley big screen.

Lyth's innings continued his outstanding form this season, which has seen him score 853 first-class runs at 65.61.

He has been one of the revelations of the summer, taking his chance superbly as an opening batsman and catching the eye with the finesse of his strokes.

Lyth added: "Hopefully I can carry on churning out the runs and keep it going for the rest of the season.

"But I know I'm still learning and that I've got to keep working hard on my game.

"I'm not going to get carried away by what's happened because there's still plenty of cricket left to be played."

Yorkshire (from): Gale (captain), Lyth, Gibbs, McGrath, Brophy, Bairstow, Rashid, Pyrah, Best, Rafiq, Patterson, Sanderson, Sayers.