Brave Harte hoping for a knockout spot

DURHAM all-rounder Gareth Harte is targeting three wins from his side’s remaining Royal London One-Day Cup group games to ensure their place in the knockout phase of the competition.

The club endured a poor start to the tournament, suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Yorkshire and Lancashire before they were edged out on the road against Derbyshire.

However, Durham have displayed resilience to reel off back-to-back wins over Worcestershire and Northamptonshire to keep themselves into contention, with home matches against Warwickshire today and Nottinghamshire on Sunday.

Harte said: “We had a bit of a rocky start which was not great but we have won our last two games so it looks like we are heading in the right direction.

“It is a massive game against Warwickshire - hopefully we can get the win to take us into the next two games, where we can get into the knockout stage.

“If we win the next three games we qualify, that is the way we see it.

“They have good players but so have we, so we are not going to worry about them too much - but we have to leave everything out on the park to get the result.”

Harte came into the side against Worcestershire at Gosforth last week and has made an impact with the bat in the lower order.

On his List A debut, the South African scored a vital 48 to aid Durham’s victory via the Duckworth-Lewis method, while his late flurry of 36 against Northamptonshire provided an important cushion as Tom Latham’s men sealed a five-run win.

He added: “I would like to be higher in the order.

“Right now I am in the team and that is all that matters.

“I am able to bat anywhere so wherever I have the opportunity I am keen to try to take it.

“It is always nice to score some runs and it is a bit easier when the ball is a little bit older and the bowlers are more tired so you can play with more freedom.

“I want to take the momentum from the last two matches into the Warwickshire game.

“For now my focus is on whiteball cricket but hopefully when we are playing with the red ball I can be a bit more involved with that.

“I just have to keep working hard and see what happens.”

Durham are currently seventh in the Royal London One-Day Cup North Group ahead of their two Emirates Riverside matches.