The irrepressible Warne has guided his county into the final

Skipper Shane Warne led Hampshire to a 40-run victory over Warwickshire and a place in the Friends Provident Trophy final against Durham at Lord's.

John Crawley gave the home side a good start with 65 but wickets fell regularly until Nic Pothas hit 40 not out as Hampshire finished on 206-7.

Kumar Sangakkara made 44 for the Bears but his departure sparked a collapse.

Warne took 2-37 and seamer Stuart Clark 3-38 to see Hampshire through to their second one-day final in three years.

The game looked to be slipping away from the home side when Sangakkara was dropped by Sean Ervine at slip off Warne's bowling.

But the Zimbabwean, who scored a century when these two sides met in the 2005 final, made up for his mistake by having Sangakkara caught by substitute Greg Lamb the very next over, before bowling Alex Loudon to finish with 2-13 from his five overs.

Warne then trapped Heath Streak lbw and, as the required run-rate crept up to over a run a ball, it proved too much for the visitors as the leg-spinner marshalled his troops expertly.

Although Steyn lofted huge six over square leg, Clark bowled him with the very next delivery.

I think everybody is a bit surprised by Bell's omission. He's an England player and a pretty good one-day player. Shane Warne

Warne nearly enjoyed a fairytale finish when he thought he had run out last man Lee Daggett with a direct hit - but the third umpire ruled in Warawickshire's favour.

Instead, Tim Ambrose - who made 41 batting with the tail as the last recognised batsman - was yorked next ball as Clark signed off his initial spell on the south coast with the final wicket.

"I am very proud of the guys today," said Warne afterwards.

"We haven't really hit our form, haven't really batted well through the whole competition," Warne admitted.

"But our bowling and fielding has been excellent all through the tournament.

"I thought we needed 230 at least. It was a very good wicket, a little bit slow.

"We thought if we could get 230-240, batting second is always hard."

Warwickshire had decided not to select England batsman Ian Bell, despite the national side making both Bell and Hampshire's Kevin Pietersen available.

Warne added: "I think everybody is a bit surprised by Bell's omission. He's an England player and a pretty good one-day player.

"They might have needed someone with his experience out there.

Crawley provided Hampshire's foundation before he was run out

"You have to admire Warwickshire to keep their side, but it always had the potential to backfire if they lost.

"If they'd won everyone would have said 'yes, what a great decision'. But if they lost they open themselves up."

However, Pietersen contributed just 18 before holing out - and when Crawley and Ervine were both run out after some poor running between the wickets, the Bears - who bowled intelligently and fielded well - were on top.

Paceman Chris Tremlett's promotion to number six was not a success as he was smartly stumped by Ambrose off Loudon, but the experienced Pothas and Dimitri Mascarenhas ensured a defendable total.

Mascarenhas survived two appeals off the same ball, under the new rules which are being trialled in this competition in 2007.

After being given not out when Warwickshire appealed for a stumping, the Bears then used one of their two permitted referrals to appeal for lbw - which was also turned down.

The all-rounder's luck ran out when he was yorked for 26 by a clever slower ball from Steyn.

Hampshire will now meet Durham - who beat Essex in a low-scoring game at the Riverside - on Saturday, 18 August.