Yorkshire 373-8 v Surrey: Rudolph an instant hit to settle the Yorkshire nerves

The signing of Jacques Rudolph under the Kolpak ruling stirred up a winter of discontent for Yorkshire. But if his County Championship debut is anything to go by then followers of the White Rose side can expect a glorious summer for this adopted son.

The South African Rudolph moved smoothly through the gears to the 20th first-class hundred of his career to frustrate newly promoted Surrey and wrest the initiative from them after they had run through the fragile upper order.

When Rudolph arrived at the crease Yorkshire were in a parlous state, three wickets down and with nowhere near enough on the board after winning the toss and electing to bat.

The openers Craig White and Joe Sayers had grafted for the best part of an hour before White drove at Jimmy Ormond looking for a second successive four and was caught in the gully by Mark Ramprakash. Then Anthony McGrath, who had insisted in the winter that he had left the club before being persuaded to stay by the returning Darren Gough, dug in.

A change of bowling at the Pavilion End did the trick. The acting Surrey captain, Rikki Clarke, standing in for Mark Butcher, who is struggling with a groin injury, found the outside edge of Sayers' bat and McGrath fell six balls later caught behind off Azhar Mahmood. Clarke then sent down a devastating ball that beat the Pakistan Test batsman Younis Khan for pace. That ended a spell of three for four in 11 balls.

For the next three-and-a-half hours Rudolph reigned. He was cautious to start, adding a temperate 54 for the fifth wicket with the keeper, Gerard Brophy, a partnership which dragged the toiling Surrey attack into the afternoon. Brophy departed after an hour, rapped on the pads to give Surrey's debutant Steve Magoffin his first Championship wicket.

The Surrey fielders gathered like vultures around the new man Adil Rashid, taking him for a tentative teenager - an impression reinforced by a nervy edge off Azhar, which went through second slip's hands.

Rashid may only be 19, and have seven first-class matches to his name, but the leg-spinner is crammed with courage and not a little class. It took him a while to pick up the pace of the pitch and adjust to everything, but adjust he did, in fact he was the first to hit a six, pulling Clarke square on the on-side.

That moved Rudolph to hammer one of his own and in the same over his 11th four took him past fifty. After that there seemed to be no way to stop the pair. They shattered the Yorkshire sixth-wicket record against Surrey, Rashid going on to reach a career-best 86 including 14 fours and a second six, having helped to add 190 in 42 overs. He eventually fell to Azhar.

Rudolph reached his hundred off 136 balls with 20 fours and three sixes, and by the time he fell, caught by Ramprakash in the covers, Yorkshire were comfortably placed.