OXFORD Downs blew their hopes of a Lord's final after collapsing in the face of some excellent Findon bowling.

Having dismissed their hosts for just 142, Downs looked nailed on for victory in a dramatic semi-final.

But they couldn't cope with Findon's intensity and experience as their opening bowlers Jim Iago and Nigel Waller began in inspired form.

Waller bagged three quick wickets, while the pacy Iago looked dangerous with every delivery on a bowler-friendly strip.

Downs managed something of rally from 20-4 to 47-5 with Richard West and James Ellwood playing with a measure of control.

However, they were soon 70-9 and it was game over at 93 all-out.

Downs' disappointment was just about capped by the ninth wicket, which saw James Florey stumped off a wide.

He joined Jamie Perkin and Ellwood in venting their frustration on the visitors' changing rooms.

Findon's former skipper John Rogers sealed victory by bowling Steve Roberts with his third ball to cue the champagne and celebrations from a packed home crowd.

Things looked very different after Findon won the toss and elected to bat.

They lost star batsman Rogers in the second over when he was caught by West off Tim Hardy.

Findon never really got going after that as Downs bowled with real discipline on a pitch where scoring wasn't easy.

The hosts didn't help themselves with some injudicious shots as Toby Kingsbury followed Rogers by skying a catch.

This was arguably Downs' best performance of the season with the ball and every bowler played their part.

Hardy finished with the best figures after snaffling the final two wickets to finish on 5-35, but Luke List (2-21) was unlucky not to have gained more reward.

Findon found boundaries hard to come by on a pitch that had taken a lot of water during the week.

Steve Waller, brother of captain Graham, went for a series of huge shots as he tried to force the issue, and was twice fortunate to be dropped in the deep.

Ellwood had been a guilty party, but more than made amends after holding a superb diving catch off Ali Shackman.

This removed the only Findon batsman who had hung around and gave Steve Roberts a wicket off his first ball.

At this point, there only looked one winner, and it wasn't Findon.

But having lost in two previous semi-finals, it proved third time lucky for the Sussex champions.