A jubilant Kuldeep Yadav vowed he would return to county cricket in the future after delivering career-best figures of 10 for 120 to give Yorkshire a crushing innings-and-106-run Rothesay County Championship victory over Essex at Headingley.
The India international claimed four for 70 in Essex鈥檚 first innings and then produced an even more devastating six for 50 second time around to complete the first 10-wicket haul of his first-class career.
鈥淲hen I was about to get the sixth one, I thought, 鈥楪ive me one more, let me complete the ten-wicket haul!鈥欌�� reflected Kuldeep on achieving the milestone. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the home conditions that I grew up playing in but this is the ultimate home now, so playing here and getting a ten-for, it鈥檚 been so good.鈥�
The victory, completed inside three days, all but secured Yorkshire鈥檚 Division One status. It was also a timely reminder of what Kuldeep can offer after an uncertain period with India.
He signed for Yorkshire in July, initially for five Metro Bank One-Day Cup matches and three Rothesay County Championship fixtures, but his first spell was disrupted by India commitments, while his return for the previous Championship game produced little impact as he did not bowl in the one-wicket defeat to Surrey.
At Headingley, however, everything clicked. The pitch offered enough assistance for spin, but Kuldeep鈥檚 success owed as much to his control and variation as to the surface.
鈥淚t looked like a good wicket to bat. The first innings there was not much turn. It wasn鈥檛 a rank turner, Headingley is not known for that, so I was just trying to make the batters make mistakes. Then in the second innings I was trying to use the footmarks to bring the ball from outside to the stumps. That was the plan, and using more angles to make the batters uncomfortable.鈥�
Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath was emphatic about the quality of Kuldeep鈥檚 performance: 鈥淵ou could see how much he spins it and his control of spin was just sensational. If you looked at how he put his overs together 鈥� over the wicket, round the wicket鈥� he was setting the batters up.鈥�
As he prepared for Yorkshire鈥檚 next fixture, beginning at Headingley tomorrow against frontrunners Somerset, Kuldeep said his short stint at the club would not be a one-off.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be here, everyone is so kind and very humble and they鈥檝e been very welcoming,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you look at our team, we鈥檝e got lovely lads, lovely young talent in the squad, so to play alongside them feels so good. I鈥檒l definitely come back, that鈥檚 a promise.鈥�
Unsurprisingly, McGrath would welcome that possibility. 鈥淲e鈥檇 bite his hand off, wouldn鈥檛 we? He鈥檚 an amazing character and his passion for the game鈥� he just loves bowling.鈥�
Dom Bess, who claimed five wickets of his own in the victory, was equally enthusiastic, praising the Indian鈥檚 appetite for his craft and the influence he has had on Yorkshire鈥檚 younger players.
鈥淭he thing I love about KD is the love of craft. He comes here to play and absolutely loves it. We talk a lot of spin, and we have a great relationship."
Elsewhere in Division One, the three votes went to: Olly Stone for the second time in four games as Notts blew away Hampshire to further their bid to retain the title; the metronomic Ethan Bamber, who went past 50 wickets this season as Warwickshire rolled Glamorgan for 69 and 65; 22-year-old Charlie Tear who hit 128 runs in the match as Sussex and Surrey played out a rain-affected draw; and Josh Thomas whose burgeoning opening partnership with Tom Lammonby has been key to Somerset鈥檚 assault on the title and who hit a hundred to help his county past Leicestershire.
In Division Two, the votes went to Martin Andersson of Derbyshire, who has had a stellar season and whose unbeaten first-innings hundred against Kent was the defining contribution when nobody else passed 35; Saif Zaib, who hit a sublime hundred in a game where no other batter breached 65 as Northamptonshire leapfrogged Kent into second place by beating Worcestershire; Ben McKinney who further burnished his growing reputation by hitting a vital second-innings 184 for Durham, the leaders going on to beat Middlesex by 94 runs and seal the Division Two title; and finally Will Williams of Gloucestershire, who went back to Old Trafford and took seven wickets in a winning cause to remind the Red Rose county of what they are missing.
Leaderboard
17: Matthew Potts (Durham)
14: Craig Overton (Somerset)
11: Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire), Matt Milnes (Kent).
10: Jake Lehmann (Hampshire)
9: Henry Crocombe (Sussex), Tom Abell (Somerset), Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire).
8: George Hill (Yorkshire), David Bedingham (Durham), Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Ben Raine (Durham), James Bracey (Gloucestershire).
Round 13 voting
Division One
Nottinghamshire v Hampshire: 3 鈥� Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire), 2 鈥� Jake Lehmann (Hampshire), 1 鈥� Manny Lumsden (Hampshire)
Yorkshire v Essex: 3 鈥� Kuldeep Yadav (Yorkshire), 2 鈥� Dom Bess (Yorkshire), 1 鈥� George Hill (Yorkshire)
Glamorgan v Warwickshire: 3 鈥� Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), 2 鈥� Ed Barnard (Warwickshire), 1 鈥� Sam Hain (Warwickshire)
Sussex v Surrey: 3 鈥� Charlie Tear (Sussex), 2 鈥� Rahul Chahar (Surrey), 1 鈥� Sean Hunt (Sussex)
Leicestershire v Somerset: 3 鈥� Josh Thomas (Somerset), 2 鈥� Craig Overton (Somerset), 1 鈥� Tom Lammonby (Somerset)
Division Two
Derbyshire v Kent: 3 鈥� Martin Andersson (Derbyshire), 2 鈥� Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire), 1 鈥� Bertie Foreman (Kent)
Worcestershire v Northamptonshire: 3 鈥� Saif Zaib (Northamptonshire), 2 鈥� Luke Procter (Northamptonshire), 1 鈥� Harry Conway (Northamptonshire)
Durham v Middlesex: 3 鈥� Ben McKinney (Durham), 2 鈥� Brydon Carse (Durham), 1 鈥� Callum Parkinson (Durham)
Lancashire v Gloucestershire: 3 鈥� Will Williams (Gloucestershire), 2 鈥� Kamran Dhariwal (Gloucestershire), JT Langridge (Gloucestershire)