Matthew Elliott became a conquering hero at Lord's on Saturday with a stunning unbeaten century which led to Yorkshire returning home in triumph with the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy after soundly beating holders Somerset by six wickets.

But the Australian was not the only star on a glorious day on which Yorkshire were forgiven their shortcomings in the Championship by thousands of ecstatic fans who went wild as their team did a lap of honour around cricket's headquarters.

England bowler Matthew Hoggard first gave Yorkshire hope with his competition best figures of five for 65 and then when the going got tough Michael Vaughan and Anthony McGrath provided Elliott with exactly the support he needed.

Victorious captain Richard Blakey was unstinting in his praise of Elliott.

"Darren Lehmann would love to have been here today but this bloke is a more than adequate replacement and he played out of his skin," said Blakey.

"Darren has been an absolute run machine but for Matthew to come from his off-season and play five or six wonderful innings for us is just icing on the cake.

"It was a very proud moment for me when we won the Trophy and then paraded it around Lord's and the lads were absolutely elated and over the moon with their success.

"Our County Championship form has been disappointing but we can still get out of trouble. At the moment, however, we have just got to enjoy today."

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

Coming in with Yorkshire struggling on 19 for two as they chased a stiff victory target of 257, Elliott calmly took a grip of the situation from the moment he arrived at the crease until he hit the winning boundary with two full overs remaining. His three-hour epic contained 16 fours and came off 125 balls.

Somerset skipper and fellow Australian Jamie Cox described Elliott's innings as one of the best he had ever seen in a one-day match. "We were beaten by an extraordinary innings. I cannot praise Elliott's innings enough," he said.