Birmingham Bears coach Dougie Brown has hailed his side's "incredible" achievement of winning the T20 Blast title following three years of progression.
A thrilling contest at Edgbaston last night saw the Bears prevail on home turf, winning by four runs against Lancashire Lightning despite a late attempt by Andrew Flintoff to overhaul the set target.
"Oh man, Twenty20 never fails to disappoint," the Birmingham Mail quotes Brown as saying. "I thought we had it in the bag and then Freddie hits a couple and all of a sudden it's game on again.
"It's just amazing to get over the line. It was a complete rollercoaster of emotions. We've done really well and come on as a side massively in the last two to three years so to get across the line here on our home ground is incredible."
Birmingham had earlier edged out Surrey to reach the showpiece final.