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India triumph as England choke

Birmingham - India held their nerve to beat England by five runs in a tense finish to a rain-disrupted Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston on Sunday.

In a match reduced to 20 overs a side, a fifth-wicket partnership of 64 between Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara put England in sight of a victory target of 130 and their first major 50-over trophy.

But with England needing 20 to win off 16 balls, the pair fell to successive deliveries by Ishant Sharma and England's lower order crumbled as the hosts finished on 124 for eight.

VIDEO: India dance Gangnam Style

Miserly bowling by Bopara and James Tredwell helped England restrict India to 129 for seven after the start of play had been delayed by nearly six hours due to persistent rain.

Virat Kohli top-scored with 43 and Shikhar Dhawan, the tournament's leading run-scorer, made a breezy 31 but India were never able to dominate a disciplined England attack.

Rohit Sharma was bowled by Stuart Broad for nine and Dhawan mis-timed a drive in Bopara's first over and was caught by Tredwell at mid-off.

Dinesh Karthik skied a catch off Tredwell and Bopara struck twice in his third over, getting Suresh Raina caught by Alastair Cook at mid-on and dangerman Mahendra Singh Dhoni well taken by Tredwell on the third man boundary.

Bopara completed excellent figures of three for 20 but Kohli and Man of the Match Ravindra Jadeja took 30 runs off the next three overs and Kohli, badly dropped by Jonathan Trott, launched Broad for a massive six over square leg.

Kohli skied James Anderson to long off but Jadeja finished unbeaten on 33 after clouting Tim Bresnan for another six in the final over of the innings.

England lost wickets steadily at the start of their reply.

Cook fell for two, edging a catch to first slip off Umesh Yadav, Trott made a fluent 20 off 17 balls before being stumped by Dhoni off Ravichandran Ashwin and Joe Root pulled the same bowler straight to long leg.

Ian Bell's laborious innings of 13 ended when he was controversially given out by the third umpire, stumped by Dhoni off Jadeja.

England were in deep trouble at 46 for four, bamboozled by the prodigious turn of Ashwin, Jadeja and Raina.

Morgan and Bopara brought up their 50 partnership off 47 balls and at 110 for four with three overs left the hosts were scenting victory.

But Morgan, on 33, spooned Sharma to mid-wicket and Bopara pulled his next ball straight to backward square leg as the hosts started to crumble.

Jos Buttler was bowled by Jadeja's first ball and Bresnan was run out in a mix-up with Broad.

England needed 15 for victory from the final over and six off the last ball.

Tredwell missed with a wild heave at Ashwin and the Indian players were left to celebrate a famous victory.

Brief scores:

India 129-7 off 20 overs (V.Kohli 43, R.Jadeja 33 not out, S.Dhawan 31, R.Bopara 3-20)

England 124-8 off 20 overs (E.Morgan 33, R.Bopara 30)

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