Kohler-Cadmore blasts Vikings to emphatic victory at Durham

The opening batsman smashed 164 from 151 balls with 15 fours and seven sixes in a thrilling exhibition of savage strokeplay.

Only Darren Lehmann (191 against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough in 2001), Travis Head (175 against Leicestershire at Grace Road in 2016) and Jonny Bairstow (174 against Durham at Headingley last year) have made higher one-day scores for the club.

That Kohler-Cadmore, 23, was making his List A debut for Yorkshire merely added to the quality of his display, the visitors totalling 328-4 before Durham replied with 182, white-ball specialist Adil Rashid capturing 4-47 on his first appearance of the summer.

“It was nice to get out there and get some runs under my belt,” said Kohler-Cadmore, who joined the club from Worcestershire last year.

“They’re the first runs I’ve scored this season, so it was just nice to get the campaign going with a hundred.

“Luckily, it came off, and it’s always nice when you get a licence to swing.”

After Yorkshire’s stand-in captain Steve Patterson won the toss in sunny conditions, with club captain Gary Ballance unavailable due to what Yorkshire have described as “personal reasons”, Kohler-Cadmore was soon into his stride.

Nathan Rimmington, the Australian pace bowler, was twice driven to the cover boundary and then imperiously square-driven to the rope in front of the pavilion.

On a day when part of that pavilion was renamed in honour of Paul Collingwood, with Durham chairman Sir Ian Botham on hand to perform the ceremony, Kohler-Cadmore took full advantage of any width on offer on a good pitch, along with anything pitched up in his hitting zone.

As he rapidly grew in confidence and stature, the tall right-hander played a particularly brutal shot when he advanced to the medium-pace of Matty Potts and hammered the ball to the cover boundary, following up with a pulled six off the same bowler.

Moments after Adam Lyth was out in the 13th over, skying Potts to the wicketkeeper to end a first-wicket stand of 80, Kohler-Cadmore brought up a run-a-ball half-century.

He celebrated by lofting Potts for six over mid-off and had progressed to 71 out of 126-1 at the halfway stage of the visitors’ innings.

Kohler-Cadmore’s second fifty was a more sedate affair, spanning 66 balls, as Durham pegged Yorkshire back a touch after their racing start.

Cheteshwar Pujara, also making his List A debut for the club, was content to play second fiddle to his junior partner, the Indian managing only one boundary in bringing up his own half-century from 71 balls.

After reaching three-figures for the third time in List A games, with his previous one-day hundred coming against Yorkshire at New Road last May, Kohler-Cadmore suddenly exploded..

His third fifty took just 26 balls and included four more sixes, James Weighell hammered over long-on, Potts launched over mid-wicket and long-off from successive balls, and left-arm spinner George Harding crunched high over long-off.

Kohler-Cadmore’s seventh and final six came when he lofted Harding over long-on, his innings ending when he skewed a full toss from the same bowler to Will Smith at long-on after equalling Ben Stokes’s record for the highest individual innings made at this ground in one-day cricket, for Durham against Nottinghamshire four years ago.

Striking from a solid base with a flourishing follow-through, Kohler-Cadmore also sent out a message that he should be playing in the County Championship too.

He has not featured in that tournament this year, having made three appearances in the format for Yorkshire last summer to go with 11 games of T20.

When he fell yesterday, there were still 8.4 overs of the innings remaining, meaning that there was ample time to potentially beat Lehmann’s record and also to raise Yorkshire’s first double hundred in the format.

One would hardly bet against him achieving that in future, Kohler-Cadmore taking the lead in a stand of 176 with Pujara in 29 overs.

Pujara went on to 82 from 92 balls with five fours before holing out to Smith at long-on off Potts in the 48th over.

Harry Brook fell to Potts’s next ball, bowled for 20 as he tried to switch-hit, Potts the most successful bowler with 3-69.

Ben Coad, the pace bowler who missed Yorkshire’s Championship game against Surrey at the Oval last week with ankle soreness/fatigue, struck in the third over of the Durham reply, Graham Clark well caught by a diving Andrew Hodd off a fine delivery that shaped away.

Tim Bresnan dislodged Collingwood’s off bail in the sixth over, and Durham slipped to 53-3 in the 13th when Patterson had Tom Latham held at point by Brook. After Smith was run-out, Rashid took centre stage.

The leg-spinner induced Ryan Pringle to chop on, had a reverse-sweeping Michael Richardson lbw for the top score of 43 and then bowled Weighell around his legs. Bresnan bowled Stuart Poynter, Rashid bowled Potts, and Yorkshire won with 10 overs left when Patterson had a skying Rimmington caught behind.

Patterson said: “We wanted to get off to a strong start because we’ve got four or five games in eight days. If we can take momentum from this game and win another two or three games, then we’re in good shape.”