Yorkshire's Kuldeep Yadav registered his best-ever figures in first-class cricket, taking 10 for 120 in the County Championship match against Essex at Headingley.
Kuldeep Yadav takes ten for the first time in his first-class career
The left-arm wrist spinner returned with figures of 4-70 in 23 overs in the first innings, helping Yorkshire skittle the visitors for just 171 runs after scoring 390 themselves. He picked up the first three wickets to fall, dismissing Paul Walter, Tom Westley and Charlie Allison before coming back to remove lower-order batter Mitchell Killeen.
You'll find this under, "A perfect spinners dismissal". https://t.co/kk5c0IiSqo pic.twitter.com/8IHYGexM78
— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) September 10, 2026
Yorkshire enforced the follow-on on Essex, and Kuldeep emerged the star yet again, taking six wickets for 50 runs - his best-ever first-class innings figures - to finish with a ten-for in the game, also a first for him in the format, and mark a career-best outing of 10-120. Riding on the India spinner's ten-wicket haul, Yorkshire beat Essex by an innings and 106 runs.
Kuldeep will be delighted with the performance, especially after not bowling at all in the previous game against Surreyas fast bowlers dominated the proceedings. This was notably his first five-wicket haul in the format in almost a year, with a 5-82 against the West Indies in October 2025 being his last.
He also has a point to prove, having been shunted in and out of the national side, with the management preferring spinners who can also bat. He picked up only one wicket across two innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka before missing the second due to a viral fever.
But even from batting point of view, Kuldeep fared decently in Yorkshire's only innings against Essex. Batting at number nine, he spent 115 minutes on the crease and faced 94 deliveries for his 36. He stitched together an important 83-run stand with Dom Bess for the eighth wicket, helping Yorkshire post 390 in their first innings.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
