STAGE fright? Don't you believe it. From the moment Shane Warne kindly invited them to bat first in their first appearance in a Lord's final the Durham underdogs strutted the hallowed turf like supreme champions.

They didn't so much outshine Hampshire as out-Shane Warne as they refused to be dazzled by the Australian legend and imposed their own will, skill and sheer bravado in winning an unforgettable Friends Provident Trophy final by 125 runs.

Durham now have their own legend in Ottis Gibson, and if the match wasn't already settled when he strode to the crease it was nine balls later.

Off the first seven of those he smote 15 runs, helping the equally inspired Dale Benkenstein to lift his side to a record total in a Lord's 50-over final of 312 for seven, then with the first two balls of Hampshire's innings Gibson propelled the 6,000 joyous Durham fans into even greater raptures.

As the Tavistock Riverside band reminded the almost full house of Durham's proud traditions between innings, no doubt Warne would have told his troops that the total was reachable on a belter of a pitch.

But the team against whom Gibson took ten for 47 last month froze in the glare of his current stardom. Like a man with Hants in his pants, he found the edge of two left-handers' bats and Michael Di Venuto pouched the catches at second slip to remove Michael Lumb and Sean Ervine, who scored a match-winning century in the 2005 final.

Gibson's all-ten put him in the record books; this fairytale start cemented his place in Durham folklore. But he needed one final coup de grace to make sure of victory.

At none for two after two balls, in came Kevin Pietersen, perhaps the one batsman in the country who might conceivably win a game from such a dire position. The hat-trick ball was short outside off stump and he dealt with it comfortably, but with Neil Killeen probing away at the other end Pietersen couldn't break free of the shackles.

He had made 12 when Gibson snared him in the ninth over. From just short of a perfect length on off stump, the ball kept a shade low, although not as low as the batsman's theatrical reaction to it would have had us believe.

He almost doubled up in his attempt to prevent it thudding into his pad, and he was gone without waiting for the raised finger which indicated that if the contest wasn't already over it was now.

From such vertiginous heights, what followed was inevitably an anti-climax, especially when rain arrived with Hampshire on 158 for five after 32.3 overs.

After further rain play resumed at 12.30 yesterday and after taking only ten runs off the first 15 balls Hampshire needed 145 off 15 overs.

The pressure saw them lose a wicket in each of the next four overs and they were finally all out for 187.

It was all over when Liam Plunkett bowled Warne for five, and after starting the day with none for 31 in 4.3 overs, Plunkett finished with three for 42.

There were also three wickets for Collingwood, and a third catch for Di Venuto, compensating for their disappointments with the bat.

Most fans returned home on Saturday night, but Durham's performance had already given them everything they could have wished for other than a Phil Mustard century.

From the moment he swotted Daren Powell's sixth ball of the day over gully for four the swashbuckling left-hander set the tone for Durham's dominant display.

He then square drove James Bruce's second ball for the second of his six fours and also hit Dimitri Mascarenhas over long-on for six on his way to 49 off 38 balls.

Although Mustard was cruelly cut down by a poor lbw decision with the total on 69 in the 13th over, it left the stage for Kyle Coetzer and Shivnarine Chanderpaul to consolidate the excellent start.

They put on 111 in 19 overs and the 23-year-old Scot quickly showed he was equal to the task of batting at three on a showpiece occasion and was not overshadowed by his illustrious partner.

Coetzer played and missed at Warne's first ball when the great man came on for the 20th over, but Chanderpaul wandered down for a word and the third ball was drilled over mid-off for four.

That was when the ecstatic Durham hordes began to realise they had a potential new hero to applaud and four overs later he executed a perfect sweep off Warne, which flew to the square leg boundary, perfectly bisecting two fielders.

After starting quietly with a series of singles while Mustard was in full flow, Coetzer took nine off the first four balls of Warne's fifth over, including a viciously pulled four, to reach 50 off 64 balls.

His last scoring shot was the biggest six of the day, picked up just in front of square off Ervine's medium pace to land in the top tier of the Grandstand and take him to 61.

Two balls later he tried a back-foot punch, only to be caught low down by Warne at short extra cover.

That brought in Collingwood with 18 overs left and the fact that he struggled to locate the middle of the bat was irrelevant as Chanderpaul moved into top gear.

He had begun with an exquisite straight drive off Bruce, the pick of the Hampshire bowlers, but by the 27th over his strokeplay was becoming audacious.

He whipped a straight ball from Chris Tremlett over square leg for six and his second six, swept like a tracer bullet off a ball of almost yorker length from Ervine, was the shot of the day.

His West Indian colleague, Powell, had apparently fancied a go at him, but when he returned for the 33rd over he was cracked for three fours and eventually conceded 80 runs off ten overs.

Had Chanderpaul stayed in, Durham would have been looking for a total of 330, but after making 78 off 79 balls he was run out.

He drove Warne to long-on and Collingwood started back for an unlikely second run before changing his mind. But it was too late for Chanderpaul to beat Michael Carberry's throw.

In came Benkenstein with 12 overs left - just enough to play himself in then show the world what a wonderful player he is by reaching an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls.

There was a brief danger of Durham under-achieving following Chanderpaul's exit as Collingwood's determination to ensure Warne remained wicketless saw him play out a maiden in the 40th over, Warne's ninth, and only one run came off Bruce in the 41st.

But the glorious final flourish began in the 44th over as Benkenstein pulled Ervine for the first of his three sixes and 75 runs came off the last seven overs.

Collingwood hadn't found the boundary when he fell for 22 in the 48th over, but Gibson pulled the first ball he faced from Tremlett for a muscular six and drove the next majestically to the cover boundary.

The disgraceful beamer which followed brought little in the way of apology or admonishment from the umpire and Gibson marched up to the other end to remonstrate.

There was a handshake at the end of the over, but Tremlett's team-mates would not have thanked him for winding up Gibson even further as he quickly destroyed their hopes of challenging Durham's imposing total.