BBC Sport looks at how Hampshire reached the final of the Friends Provident Trophy, where they will meet Durham at Lord's on 18 August. The 18 first-class counties, plus Scotland and Ireland, were divided into North and South Conferences, with each team playing every other team in each conference once.
In a change from the 2006 format, a semi-final stage was introduced - while another innovation, trialled in this competition, saw players given the right to refer decisions to the TV umpire.
SOUTH CONFERENCE MATCHES
22 April: Beat Middlesex by 91 runs
Hampshire eased to victory in their first game after Middlesex had won the toss and put them in. Keeper Nic Pothas, opening the innings, hit 114 while skipper Shane Warne was out first ball but took 3-16 from six overs to lead his side to victory. 22 April: Lost to Essex by 135 runs
Hampshire were bowled out for just 75 on an uncharacteristic Chelmsford pitch after the home side had recovered from 58-5 to 210-7 from their 50 overs thanks to James Foster's 69 not out. Only three Hants batsmen reached double figures. 7 May: Beat Ireland by eight wickets (D/L method)
England's Kevin Pietersen was playing his first county game for a year, but hit 66 not out in an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 143 with Sean Ervine (67 not out) which saw them past their rain-reduced target. 13 May: Match with Gloucestershire abandoned without a ball bowled
With rain sweeping the country, no play was possible at Bristol - or in three other Friends Provident Trophy games that day. 18 May: Tied with Somerset
A remarkable game was tied when Australia seamer Stuart Clark scrambled a single off the last ball of the match to earn Hampshire a share of the points, after Ervine and Shaun Udal had looked set to see them home before both were dismissed. 20 May: Beat Sussex by six wickets
Hampshire saw off south coast rivals and competition holders Sussex, bowling them out for 201 thanks to some miserly early overs by Clark and Dimitri Mascarenhas. Michael Lumb top-scored with 66 for the home side, while Ervine made 57 not out. 3 June: Beat Glamorgan by 137 runs
Mascarenhas clubbed 74 off 56 balls, while Lumb and Pothas also hit half-centuries as Hampshire made 283-6 at Swansea, before Clark ripped through the Welsh batting order with 4-25 as the visitors cruised to victory. 10 June: Beat Kent by two runs
A thriller at Tunbridge Wells, which saw Warne hand the last over to Chris Tremlett rather than Clark (who had taken 3-40) - but Tremlett removed the dangerous Matt Walker (83) with three balls remaining as they sneaked home by two runs. It put Hampshire on top of the South Conference - but with Kent, Gloucestershire and Essex just one point behind. 13 June: Beat Surrey by three wickets
Another nervous - but crucial - victory in their final group game saw Hampshire top the table and book their semi-final place. Clark took a stunning 6-27 and John Crawley made 55 before Warne's men stuttered over the finish line - eventually winning the game, in driving rain, thanks to a no-ball with 10 legal deliveries remaining. It earned Hampshire a home tie against North Conference runners-up Warwickshire - in a repeat of the 2005 final.
Friends Provident Trophy: South Conference
SEMI-FINALS
20 June: Beat Warwickshire by 40 runs
 Pothas and Warne celebrate a Bears wicket in the semi-final |
A week after the final group games, Hampshire booked their place in their second Lord's final in three seasons after beating a Bears side that had chosen not to select England batsman Ian Bell - despite the ECB making him available. The low-scoring Durham-Essex game was decided by mid-afternoon, but this Rose Bowl encounter nearly went the distance as the home side made 206-7 in their 50 overs, thanks to Crawley's imperious 65 and Pothas's 40 not out.
But while Warwickshire looked well set at one point, the turning point came when Ervine had Sri Lanka star Kumar Sangakkara caught by substitute fielder Greg Lamb for 44.
It was a let-off for the Zimbabwean, who had dropped Sangakkara at slip off Warne's bowling the previous over - but that wicket sparked a collapse, with only Tim Ambrose providing resistance before he was last out for 41.
Clark took 3-38 in his last game before returning to Australia, while Ervine, Mascarenhas and the irrepressible Warne took two wickets apiece.
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