Smith delighted at leaving Somerset with a trophy

Somerset's Twenty20 win secured them their first trophy since 2001 as they toppled Lancashire, the favourites from the start of the season until the start of the final, with a clinically attacking performance. Their seamers reduced Lancashire to 41 for 5 and then Graeme Smith led Somerset home with an unbeaten 64.

Somerset's triumph was more extraordinary given the situation they found themselves in during the semi-final against Leicestershire, with the defending champions requiring 80 from 12 overs before their batting imploded against some superb bowling and livewire fielding from Somerset.

For Smith, named man of the match, the trophy was a perfect way for him to leave Somerset, as he heads back to South Africa to prepare for the next international season. "It means a lot. I've come in and I feel I have been part of building towards the future. It's just fantastic to finish off and see the guys perform so well. This is my last day with the team so to walk away with a trophy is special and I'll get on that plane with a really good feeling.

"It's been good for my game as well being here. From a batting point of view Twenty20 has really benefited my game. I've been able to hit the ball out of the ground, which is something I've not done before and I've found a new type of game working over here on some good wickets."

Smith felt the key to Somerset's success in both the semi-final and final was their efforts in the field. "First game, getting 157, I though we'd cooked ourselves and then especially when they got to 75 for 0 and I knew we were struggling. But the key thing was the guys never gave up. In these conditions, in front of big crowds, with big pressure, some of these guys who aren't used to those types of conditions can crack if you keep going at them and they gave it to us.

"Then, with the ball upfront [in the final], Andy Caddick was brilliant. You can see he has been on the big stage for a lot of his life, he just looks forward to the occasion and he took two big wickets and it really made the difference. He was backed up by Richard Johnson and some superb fielding."

Mark Chilton, Lancashire captain, was philosophical in defeat, and admitted that it was the batting which fell short of its usual standard. "We never quite put enough runs on the board. We've been so strong in the competition all year round that it's just a shame that we fell at the final hurdle.

"Twenty20 is the type of game where you just don't quite catch the ball right, but I felt the big turning point was Andrew Symonds's run out. He has been in great form and if he had been able to a build a partnership for us for four or five overs we would have been quite well placed.

"We watched the second semi-final as we hadn't seen much of Somerset but obviously it didn't do us much good."