Matthew Elliott became a hero at Lord's on Saturday with a stunning unbeaten century which saw Yorkshire win the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy after soundly beating holders Somerset.

But the Aussie was not the only star on a glorious day on which Yorkshire were forgiven their shortcomings in the Championship by thousands of fans who went wild as their team did a lap of honour.

Bowler Matthew Hoggard first gave Yorkshire hope with competition-best figures of 5-65, despite an expensive start, and then when the going got tough Michael Vaughan and Anthony McGrath provided Elliott with the support he needed.

Since joining Yorkshire as Darren Lehmann's replacement three weeks ago, Elliott has exhibited astonishing form which Lehmann himself would be hard pressed to match, and his 128 not out was a memorable piece of batting which could hardly be bettered in the tense atmosphere of a keenly contested cup final.

Coming in with Yorkshire struggling on 19-2 chasing a stiff target of 257, Elliott took a grip of the situation from the moment he arrived until he hit the winning boundary with two overs remaining.

His three-hour 125-ball epic contained 16 fours, and it continued a stunning sequence of scores. He began with 83 and eight (run out) in the Roses match at Old Trafford, followed by 109 against Leicestershire in the Norwich Union League, then 92 and 52 not out at Hampshire.

By the time he made his way back to the Lord's dressing room, Elliott had plundered 471 runs in six innings for Yorkshire at an average of 117.75.

Neither coach Wayne Clark nor any of the supporters could praise Yorkshire too highly for a performance in which they twice fought their way out of tricky situations.

Their weakest moments came at the start of each innings but as the game entered its final phase only one team were going to win.

Somerset fans were soon roaring their approval as Marcus Trescothick set about Hoggard with vicious strokes which brought 20 runs in one early over but the England opener's return after a broken thumb was abruptly ended by a breathtaking one-handed catch by Michael Vaughan at cover.

Captain Richard Blakey's decision to give Hoggard one more over allowed the bowler to gain revenge and he twice came back to knock over a couple of wickets in each spell as Somerset were checked.

Chris Silverwood, who only arrived at the ground 15 minutes before the start following a pain-killing injection on his ankle, bravely bowled eight straight overs with the new ball in which he gave away only 30 runs.

And McGrath also demonstrated the value of his medium-pacers with nine overs for 37, including the crucial wicket of skipper Jamie Cox, who had added a brisk 81 in 93 balls with Peter Bowler.

Once Hoggard had returned to get Bowler (67) caught behind with the first ball of his new spell, Yorkshire new they had things under control.

Craig White, playing solely as a batsman because of a side strain, began with one or two telling blows before being caught behind off Richard Johnson and, three balls later, pinch-hitter Silverwood had his off-stump removed.

Matthew Wood was just settling in when he became Johnson's third victim with an inside edge onto his stumps but Vaughan worked the ball around skilfully in a 93-stand in 20 overs, in which Elliott turned the tide Yorkshire's way.

After Elliott had reached his 50 off 61 balls, Vaughan was lbw to Steffan Jones for 31 the ball after surviving what appeared to be a better shout.

In came McGrath to survive another close lbw appeal before taking a grip of the situation.

Each batsman took a boundary off Andy Caddick as Somerset played their last card and lost, the England paceman's second spell of two overs costing 14 runs.

Once through the nervous 90s, Elliott celebrated with three consecutive boundaries off Johnson and his winning hit took the unbroken stand to 103 and left McGrath unbeaten on 46 from 53 balls with four fours.

Updated: 14:32 Monday, September 02, 2002