Tom Kohler-Cadmore is backing Yorkshire to force victory against Hampshire at Emerald Headingley tomorrow, as long as the weather plays ball.
Kohler-Cadmore was integral to Yorkshire’s third day revival with a confident 69.
Yorkshire started another rain-affected day – there was no play beyond 3.45pm – on 5-0 in their second innings, trailing by 49. They closed on 207-3, leading by 153.
Kohler-Cadmore shared 141 for the third wicket with Gary Ballance either side of lunch before being trapped lbw playing across one from seamer Ian Holland.
Ballance finished the day unbeaten on 83, 17 short of his fifth successive century in the Specsavers County Championship, what would be his fourth this season.
“We’re in a good position,” said Kohler-Cadmore.
“This rain is obviously a frustrating thing, but myself and Gary (Ballance) had a nice partnership there. Then Jack (Leaning) and Gary finished it off for the day.
“It’s put us in a good position going into tomorrow with hopefully only two results possible from the game.
“It’s a funny one (morning tactics) because you don’t want to give them too much of a sniff.
“Say if we go really hard in the morning and get bowled out with a lead of 200, then they’re well in the game. But we also don’t want to get too many ahead that they think, ‘We’ll shut up shop from ball one’.
“It’s going to be quite an interesting conversation between Steve Patterson, the two batters in and Andrew Gale as to how we go about it.
“Right now, we’re in a good position, and today showed that when the clouds came over there’s still enough in the pitch to create 10 chances tomorrow.”
This was Kohler-Cadmore’s first fifty of the season in the Championship, added to three in the Royal London one-day Cup and a first-class friendly hundred against Leeds/Bradford MCC Universities.
“I’m playing nicely at the minute, which is annoying in that I’ve not got a big score yet,” he said. “I’m moving nicely and feel like one’s around the corner.
“It’s a little bit bittersweet because when you’re playing nicely, you want to be cashing in.
“I keep finding a way to get out at the minute. I think it’s coming, though.
“I’ve just got to keep being patient and backing what I’m doing because it’s getting me in. I just need to keep going on from that.”
Only Ballance and Joe Root have scored Championship centuries for Yorkshire this season, and another frustration is that first-innings struggles and then a second-innings revival is becoming a trend that needs changing.
Kohler-Cadmore added: “We’re putting scores on, and obviously Gary’s playing really nicely at the minute. The main thing is that we’re getting runs on the board, but this game and at Kent it’s more second-innings runs.
“But we are making sure we’re in the game, and that’s why we’ve won two out of the three we’ve played.
“We’d have liked more first-innings runs for bonus points, but we’re making sure we do it in the second innings.”
