Rudolph misses ton but puts Yorkshire in charge

For the fourth time in eight innings, the South African was dismissed in the 90s – on this occasion for the dreaded 99 on the opening day against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl.

Shortly before he returned to Yorkshire a fortnight ago, Rudolph made scores of 98, 90 and 90 again for South Africa A in a one-day series in Zimbabwe.

At least if a habit is forming, it is not a bad one to have.

For much of a wretched season, Yorkshire’s batsmen would have given their eye teeth to get anywhere near the 90s.

Indeed, Yorkshire have registered only six Championship centuries this summer – Andrew Gale (twice), Jonny Bairstow (twice), Gerard Brophy and Rich Pyrah the men to reach three-figures.

Rudolph, of course, will be kicking himself.

He sets himself the highest standards and rarely can a batsman have looked as untroubled as he did yesterday and not achieve the hundred that seemed inevitable.

As Yorkshire made 318-3 in prime conditions after winning the toss, Rudolph was in typically fine form.

Dogged in defence and discerning in attack, one could have counted on the fingers of one hand the number of shots that did not come off the centre of his bat.

Even the stroke that brought about his downfall was not a particularly poor one; seeking the all-important single on the stroke of tea, Rudolph clipped leg-spinner Imran Tahir to mid-wicket, where Dominic Cork took a fine low catch.

As Rudolph passed the bowler on his return to the pavilion, Tahir wrapped a commiserative arm around his shoulder.

The pair were team-mates at Titans in South Africa and it was a sporting gesture on Tahir’s part.

It was preceded by a canny piece of bowling, for Tahir had stifled the scoring in the period just before tea in tandem with left-arm spinner Danny Briggs.

Rudolph was fractionally beaten in the flight as he attempted to get to the pitch of the ball.

Yesterday, however, was not just about Rudolph.

Three days after their humbling defeat against the Netherlands, surely their worst performance of the season, Yorkshire produced one of their better displays to take charge of this relegation battle.

They certainly should not lose from this position, with Anthony McGrath (65) – his first Championship half-century of the summer – and Gary Ballance (50) – his sixth – adding an unbroken 114 for the fourth-wicket.

Not only would victory steer Yorkshire further clear of the drop zone, but defeat would significantly worsen the plight of Hampshire, who went into this match 42 points behind second-bottom Worcestershire having failed to win any of their opening nine games.

In heatwave conditions, Hampshire nevertheless began this match in encouraging fashion.

Chris Wood, the 21-year-old left-arm seamer, opened up with seven successive maidens from the Pavilion end before Rudolph square-drove the first ball of his eighth over to the boundary.

Wood had removed Joe Sayers with the penultimate delivery of his seventh over, the batsman brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Michael Bates, diving to his left, a dismissal that ended an opening stand of 20 runs in 55 minutes.

Wood, in fact, had a decidedly mixed day: 10 of his 18 overs were maidens, the other eight overs disappeared for 42.

Cork was less effective from the Northern End, although he had a big lbw shout against Rudolph from the opening ball of the match, the validity of which was impossible to verify from a press box sited high above ‘cow corner’.

Yorkshire scored much more freely during the second hour before lunch as Rudolph and Gale took the fight to the bowlers.

Gale, having promoted himself above McGrath, got the scoreboard moving with a succession of powerful drives against the spinners, against whom he used his feet intelligently.

Rudolph, too, displayed a penchant for the slower men, launching Briggs for six over mid-wicket just before lunch to bring up his fifty from 92 balls.

Gale went to his own half-century just after the interval, reached from 89 deliveries, before clipping Tahir to James Vince at mid-wicket.

It was a similar dismissal to that of Rudolph, with whom Gale added 129 in 32 overs.

McGrath, who dropped to No 4, had a life on 20 when he was spilled by James Adams at short-leg off Tahir.

But he battled through to reach fifty from 156 balls at a ground where he made a pair of 64s in the corresponding game last summer.

Ballance reached his half-century from 91 deliveries on a day when play ended on time and nine overs were bowled in addition to the mandatory 96.

Now that does not happen very often.