Gibson joy as Durham ease to victory

Captain Dale Benkenstein lifted the Friends Provident Trophy - albeit in front of only a few hundred spectators instead of Saturday's full house - and 38-year-old Ottis Gibson was named man of the match following an easy 125-run victory over Hampshire.

Forced into a second day by rain, Durham's bid for glory was further held up until 12.30pm. But following the delay of one hour 45 minutes Hampshire, 158 for five overnight in reply to 312 for five and needing to score at virtually nine an over, collapsed and were all out for 187 at the end of the 41st over.

England pair Liam Plunkett and Paul Collingwood cleaned up with three and two wickets respectively, but Gibson, who began the Hampshire reply with wickets off the first two balls and then dismissed Kevin Pietersen as well, was the obvious star performer of the two-day contest.

"Unbelievable," said the man who retired from cricket six years ago, then decided to start playing again and who is now interested in becoming the next West Indies coach.

"But we've got four games left and if I'm going to get through them I'm going to have to cut down on the celebrations a little bit." He was similarly ecstatic when he took all 10 Hampshire wickets earlier this season.

Collingwood, England's one-day skipper, added: "It's a shame really we didn't finish on Saturday night, but it was an unbelievable performance.

"It was our first final and you can expect some nerves in the dressing room, but they didn't show any. We were up against a good side with a lot of stars and to beat them by 125 runs full credit goes to all the players and the backroom staff.

"We've had lots of ups and downs at the club - just after I joined in 1996 I think we won one game all season - but we learned a lot and it pulled us together as a team.

"To see (director of cricket) Geoff Cook lift that trophy was a special moment. He was there from the start and it's a fairytale really. These are still early days to get success for a new county."