A quick look at the scorecard might suggest that this was another case of win the toss and win the match. In fact, the rapid Essex demise having been put in by Warwickshire had more to do with some indifferent batting against good bowling supported by efficient fielding. It appeared that Essex had an unquenchable belief in their invincibility as they produced a series of reckless strokes that could have carried them to glory, but it was the Warwickshire batsmen who called, and played, all the shots to bring an early finish to the last-ever Benson and Hedges Cup final as they won by five wickets.

Warwickshire captain Michael Powell would have been more than happy to win the toss on an overcast morning. He was even happier when the second ball of the day from Shaun Pollock from the Nursery end saw Nasser Hussain, averaging over a hundred in one-day cricket at the time, nibbling at it as it went down the slope to be caught by wicket-keeper Keith Piper.

Graham Napier came in with the intent of taking the game to Warwickshire, even from this early stage, and for a time succeeded. With Darren Robinson unfurling some elegant strokes, particularly through the off-side, and Napier on the charge, it appeared that Hussain's dismissal might have been a momentary aberration on the part of Essex.

Subsequent events proved otherwise. There was a touch of farce about Napier's dismissal when it came in the eighth over. A shot to deep square leg went to Jamie Troughton, whose throw was on the way when Napier decided not to take the third run on which he had embarked. As he regained his ground without any undue urgency, the return hit the stumps, the batsmen went for an overthrow, but a television replay showed that Napier was out at the moment when the throw from Troughton hit the stumps direct.

Next ball, from Neil Carter, John Stephenson got an inside edge and dragged the ball onto his stumps for his fourth duck in the competition this season. He might be keener that most to see the end of the competition.

Three overs later, Robinson played a horrible swish against Carter and only succeeded in sending the ball high into the covers where Dougie Brown took a simple catch.

Enter the talismanic figure of Ronnie Irani, captain, saviour and hero of all Essex. For a time he and Andy Flower stabilised the innings and there was the possibility of a revival. The pair had put on 21 runs that, in the circumstances, represented a major advance before Irani drove tamely at Brown to send a catch out to Neil Smith at mid-off.

In Smith's first over of off-spin, the 25th and scheduled halfway mark of the innings, Flower tried to glance down the leg-side, got an edge and Piper took the catch to leave Essex struggling deep in the mire at 86 for six.

Aftab Habib was next to go, moving down the pitch to Ashley Giles and clipping a simple catch to Nick Knight at short mid-wicket that did not extend the former Essex player's powers as one of the best fielders in the game. The catch to mid-on offered to Powell by Jon Dakin off Brown left Essex on 134 for eight in the 43rd over was equally simple.

Paul Grayson, who had come in amid the carnage at eight in the order, and Ashley Cowan demonstrated what could be done with sensible application. They did not manage the boundaries that might have given Essex some sort of total to be defended, but to occupy the crease for the full 50 overs at least gave an air of respectability that at one time appeared unlikely. Cowan even managed a boundary in the final over – the previous one had been recorded in the 23rd – to finish on 27, while Grayson made 38 as they added 47 from 48 balls.

Warwickshire began their reply at a rate of knots. Eight runs came off Irani's first over of the innings. But the slender hopes of the men from the east were raised by the fall of two wickets in the space of six balls.

Cowan struck first when he induced a catch behind by Powell when he had 11 and the score was 19. It had advanced by just two runs when Knight edged Irani through to Flower to elicit thoughts of a real contest that never quite materialised.

Ian Bell demonstrated his burgeoning class while Troughton, the son and grandson of actors, displayed no nerves on the big stage as the pair launched into a third wicket partnership that made the game safe for Warwickshire. They added 84 in 12 overs with 14 fours. There had been but nine in the entire Essex innings.

Irani switched and changed his bowlers, but to no effect. The Warwickshire pair went to a 50 partnership in 29 balls as the ball flew to all parts from all bowlers. There might have been the odd stroke that did not come off the middle of the bat, but the aggression of the partnership deserved a little fortune and the lack of quality in the bowling did not.

It came to an end when the sixth bowler to be used, Napier, persuaded Troughton to chase a wide one to give Flower his third catch of the innings. There had been eight fours in Troughton's innings of 37 off only 33 balls.

Pollock joined Bell, who went to his fifty from 66 balls with seven fours with a push into the covers off Cowan. There was no stopping Warwickshire as soon as Pollock picked up the rhythm of the innings, even when Pollock drove Irani high to mid-off and Stephenson got Trevor Penney lbw in the next over.

Warwickshire eased to the target with a minimum of fuss, thanks to the calm assurance of Bell which must surely have impressed the England captain, Hussain, who for once was forced to look on helplessly as Brown clipped the winning runs through midwicket off the second ball of the 37th over.

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