For the second day in succession, a former South Africa batsman played on a different plane to the Englishmen around him, but it was the sight of a local boy making good that thrilled a festival crowd basking in glorious sunshine.

Whereas Martin van Jaarsveld had to shore up the Kent innings after they had been put in to bat, Jacques Rudolph was able to play with more freedom in much easier batting conditions as he led Yorkshire to maximum batting points and the prospect of a victory that would turn them from relegation candidates into promotion hopefuls.

Rudolph had completed his fifth championship century of the season with 146 off 221 balls, including a six and 21 fours, when he played on to Robbie Joseph, leaving the stage to Adam Lyth, 20, from Whitby who was playing in his first championship match on his home ground.

He has already made a championship century against Nottinghamshire and looked on course for another on the ground where he made 122 for England Under-19 last year, until he drove exuberantly at Martin Saggers and was caught behind for 68.

It was a disappointment for the Scarborough faithful, who have been supporting Lyth since he first appeared in their 2nd XI at the age of 14 but Yorkshire were satisfied with their day's work after resumng142 runs behind with eight wickets in hand.

Rudolph was quickly into his stride, completing 1,000 runs for the season on the way to his century, but Anthony McGrath had laboured to 52 off 182 balls with five fours by the time he was caught behind off Ryan McLaren.

McGrath had supported Rudolph well, however, in a third-wicket partnership of 176 and Lyth helped add another 60 for the fourth wicket before Rudolph tried to drive Joseph through the covers and dragged the ball into his stumps.

Lyth, playing with great composure and excellent judgment, was going well by then and had made his 68 off 132 balls with 11 fours, when he got carried away after hitting Saggers for two boundaries and was left swishing his bat in annoyance.

Yorkshire were still 49 runs away from securing their fifth batting point but Adil Rashid, another 20-year-old, was playing well. He lost Rana Naved-ul-Hasan at 373 when he was caught at first slip off McLaren but Darren Gough gave Rashid robust support and Yorkshire reached 400 with nearly four overs to spare.

Scoreboard

Kent: First Innings 227 (M van Jaarsveld 107, J L Denly 50)

Yorkshire: First Innings (overnight 85-2)
A McGrath c Jones b McLaren 52
J A Rudolph b Joseph 146
A Lyth c Jones b Saggers 68
G L Brophy c Van Jaarsveld b Stevens 14
A U Rashid not out 43
Naved-ul-Hasan c Tredwell b Khan 10
*D Gough not out 12
Extras (b 8, lb 7, w 3, nb 26) 44
Total (7 wkts, 129 overs) 409

M J Hoggard and G J Kruis to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-37, 3-213, 4-273, 5-303, 6-351, 7-373.

Bowling: Joseph 28-2-92-3; Khan 21-7-58-1; Saggers 27-6-96-1; McLaren 21-4-70-1; Tredwell 17-4-41-0; Stevens 10-2-16-1; Van Jaarsveld 5-0-21-0.

Umpires: J H Evans and R T Robinson.

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