Not everyone was enamoured when Brian Rose, the Somerset director of cricket, recruited Zander de Bruyn on a Kolpak contract, the outsiders’ belief being that it potentially blocked the opportunities of a home-grown player. Fast forward 15 months and De Bruyn, the 33-year-old from Johannesburg, has proved his worth.
His latest innings on a challenging pitch for batsmen of 70 not out, with five fours and a six, from 101 balls brought Somerset’s first championship win of the season.
De Bruyn has been one of the form players in England during the Twenty20 Cup and Friends Provident Trophy this year and was among three Somerset players who made a first-innings duck before becoming prime forces as their team made the highest total of the match to triumph with more than a session to spare.
Marcus Trescothick, Justin Langer and De Bruyn failing once, maybe, but twice was unthinkable. Systematically, they drove, pulled and nudged their way to a success that ended Yorkshire’s record run of nine consecutive championship draws. A defeat was unpalatable for the hosts, whose most recent win in the competition, also over Somerset, reached its first anniversary last week.
Jonathan Bairstow, the son of the late David, a Yorkshire icon, had not only made an unbeaten 82 on his first-class debut but also held four catches at the wicket - stirring memories of his father - when deputising in the role for Gerard Brophy, who had suffered a hand injury.
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A pitch with some cracks showed the eccentricity of wear and tear, the odd ball keeping low and others rising sharply, mostly to the discomfort of Langer, whose vigil spanning three hours brought 46 runs but was an integral part of a collective effort from Somerset that Yorkshire could not emulate.
The partnership that launched Somerset was the second-wicket stand between Trescothick and Langer, which was worth 95 in 34 overs and took them to 131 and the realms of potential victory. Trescothick, who stroked 78 from 132 balls, was caught off pad and glove to give Bairstow, 19, a distinguished first victim.
Yorkshire’s fielding was sharp and supported ably the bluster and accuracy of Tim Bresnan and Matthew Hoggard. David Wainwright, the left-arm spinner, added another element, bowling 18 overs in the innings despite splitting the webbing of his bowling hand the previous evening when fielding a ferocious cut from Trescothick.
The willowy Wainwright dismissed Trescothick and James Hildreth in the space of eight balls. The latter jabbed a low catch to mid-on but De Bruyn and Craig Kieswetter, brisk and purposeful after his first-innings 83, commanded the rest of the innings. Hoggard took the second new ball with 36 needed and five wickets in hand but a near inevitable and instant boundary from De Bruyn to the unguarded third man area sent Somerset on the way to only their fourth championship win in their past 21 matches.
Yorkshire: First Innings 277 (J J Sayers 60) Second Innings 248 (J M Bairstow 82 not out)
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Somerset: First Innings 230 (C Kieswetter 83, A C Thomas 64 not out; M J Hoggard 5 for 56)
Second Innings
M E Trescothick c Bairstow b Wainwright 78
A V Suppiah b Shahzad 15
*J L Langer c Bairstow b Naved 46
J C Hildreth c Rudolph b Wainwright 5
Z de Bruyn not out 70
†C Kieswetter c Bairstow b Bresnan 25
P D Trego c Bairstow b Shahzad 23
A C Thomas not out 12
Extras (b 5, lb 15, nb 2) 22
Total (6 wkts, 85.3 overs) 296
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-131, 3-139, 4-179, 5-221, 6-274.
Bowling: Hoggard 14-1-52-0; Naved 17-3-57-1; Shahzad 15.3-3-45-2; Bresnan 20-4-55-1; Rudolph 1-0-1-0; Wainwright 18-0-66-2.
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Umpires: K Coburn and P J Hartley.