Yad’s the way to do it as Yorkshire get off the mark in One-Day Cup

Nice work if you can get it, from the player’s point of view, and a statement of intent from the Yorkshire hierarchy.

It rarely hurts to add 368 international wickets to your line-up (Yadav’s total across Tests, one-day and T20 games), the 31-year-old arriving with a proven pedigree - not to mention some 5m followers on Instagram, the true benchmark, ahem, of a player’s quality.

To Neath in South Wales for Yadav’s debut, some seven miles from Swansea in the heart of the valleys.

The ground - surrounded by trees and houses on the edge of Gnoll Country Park - was a nice setting for the occasion on a warm and sunny day, one which saw Yorkshire beat Glamorgan by two wickets with eight balls remaining, a hard-fought affair that got their campaign up and running after defeat to Hampshire in their opening match.

Yadav played his part as Glamorgan were dismissed for 186 in 47 overs after choosing to bat first on a pitch that offered something to the bowlers throughout. After nine wicketless overs, he struck with the first and third balls of his final over to finish with 2-39 from 10; then he contributed a useful 12 runs towards the end of the chase, one anchored by the impressive Fin Bean, who made an unbeaten 43 from 52 balls with four fours.

Glamorgan’s innings never really got going, which was perhaps unsurprising given their inexperience. Three of their top-five had just eight List A appearances between them, while six of their playing 11 had made fewer than 20.

Yadav, who had 136 all to himself, entered a stage that must have seemed slightly incongruous - a club ground far from the beaten track, a development competition, and lots of young players to get his bowling teeth into. He was brought on with the hosts already in some trouble at 59-4 after 15 overs, following some good bowling from the seamers George Hill, Jack White and Ben Cliff.

Hill had struck in the third over when Callum Nicholls pushed at one that went to first slip, then Cliff struck with his first ball when Henry Hurle was caught behind. Cliff grabbed his second when Will Smale went lbw to the final ball of the 10th over, and White won another lbw decision to get rid of Jack Hope-Bell, a 19-year-old from Abergavenny who had scored a hundred on debut against Sussex on Wednesday.

To be fair to Glamorgan they played Kuldeep well, not trying anything too extravagant or ambitious. He bowled solidly himself, the one blemish a full toss that got the treatment over mid-wicket from the opener Eddie Byrom, taking him to his fifty from 64 balls.

It was a case of Byrom or bust for the hosts, who struggled to find anyone to stay with him for long. Dan Douthwaite hung around to add 47 for the fifth wicket but then he completely misjudged a full one from Hill that elicited the death rattle.

Finally, in the 32nd over, Byrom fell, top-edging a pull off White to mid-off, one of the worst shots of the day. The left-hander made 68 from 95 balls with seven fours to go with his six off Yadav, the highest innings of the piece.

Timm van der Gugten did his best to apply some long handle, clubbing Cliff for a straight six and pulling his next ball for four, only for Cliff to get his revenge when he had him caught behind. Alex Horton – who helped van der Gugten add 47 for the seventh-wicket – was next to go, the first of Yadav’s victims when he top-edged a sweep to square-leg. Jamie McIlroy sliced Yadav to point, and the innings ended when Cliff yorked Andy Gorvin to finish with the best return of 4-29 from eight overs.

Yorkshire’s reply began promisingly, Adam Lyth and Will Luxton taking the score to 36-0 inside 11 overs. Then Lyth was caught behind off a ball from van der Gugten that rose sharply, and Luxton went lbw in the bowler’s next over.

Will Bennison, the promising 19-year-old, finally got off the mark in first-team cricket at the third attempt, having suffered the misfortune of ducks on his first two outings, including being run-out without facing at Scarborough on Tuesday. Bennison avoided that fate by playing his first delivery from van der Gugten with soft hands to the third man boundary, and he went on to 22 before chopping on to Douthwaite.

James Wharton - playing his first game for over a month after a thumb injury - was stumped advancing to Romano Franco, the 19-year-old left-arm spinner, and Sam Whiteman lbw to McIlroy. When Gorvin trapped Hill, Yorkshire were 107-6 in the 30th over and the 187 target was still a way off.

Bean and Don Bess steadied things with a stand of 44, then Bess pulled Gorvin to mid-on (151-7). Yadav skied McIlroy to mid-wicket attempting the winning hit with two runs needed, Cliff sealing it with a boundary through the same region.