DUANNE Olivier admitted he and his Yorkshire team-mates were “gutted” by the manner of their batting performance in the Vitality Blast defeat against Durham at Emerald Headingley last night.

But the South African fast bowler is banking on a quick response against rivals Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford this evening (6.35pm).

The Vikings were beaten by 43 runs to severely undermine their chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

On the back of three straight defeats, they are now four points behind second-placed Lancashire with two games remaining and one point behind Durham in third.

The top two from the North, Central and South Groups all qualify for the last eight next month, as do the two best third-placed finishers.

Qualification is a long shot, but Olivier is refusing to give up hope, also admitting that ending recent Red Rose dominance in this fixture is high on the list of priorities, given Yorkshire are without a Blast win against them since August 2017.

After being bowled out for 104 in pursuit of 148 last night, Olivier said: “It was very disappointing. To get bowled out for not a lot on a good wicket, every player is disappointed. It wasn’t our best performance with the bat.

“We go again tonight against Lancashire and hopefully rectify the mistakes we made.

“It’s going to be difficult to qualify for the quarter-finals, but there’s still two games left. We want to finish on a high.

“As a team, we are disappointed because we’ve put a lot of time and effort into trying to qualify. So to lose like that, everyone is gutted.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board and go again.

“It’s a massive game, a Roses game. For the past few years, they’ve had our number. We need to turn it around as quickly as possible.”

Olivier was playing his first Blast game of the season and excelled with 2-16 from four overs as Yorkshire dragged Durham’s 40-0 after four overs start back, bowling them out for 147.

“It came out nicely for me, but at the end of the day it’s a team performance,” he said.

“Our execution was poor and our decision making not at its best. The first half we did well, but our batting just wasn’t good enough.”

Olivier also refused to use the absence of Matthew Fisher, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Josh Poysden and captain David Willey as an excuse.

Willey has revealed himself and his wife Carolynne have tested positive for coronavirus, but all four players met outside of cricket on Saturday and must now self isolate for 14 days, rendering them unavailable for the rest of the group stage.

Olivier added: “The four lads have played all the games and are massive to replace. But, at the end of the day, we have a big squad with players who can do the job.

“We wish Dave (Willey) and his wife well. It’s unfortunate circumstances they’ve tested positive.”

Meanwhile, Yorkshire have confirmed that Joe Root will be in their squad tonight following the conclusion of England's ODI series against Australia.

But England teammate Adil Rashid will not be available for either this fixture or the one against Derbyshire on Sunday, citing the need to spend time with his family following a challenging summer schedule.

Young batsman George Hill is also out of tonight's clash with concussion.

Yorkshire squad to face Lancashire tonight: Harry Brook, Ben Coad, Will Fraine, Adam Lyth (c), Dawid Malan, Duanne Olivier, Mat Pillans, Matthew Revis, Joe Root, Jack Shutt, Jonny Tattersall (wk), Jordan Thompson, James Wharton, Sam Wisniewski