India clinch Champions Trophy beating England in a nail-biter

India clinched the ICC Champions Trophy with a nail-biting five-run victory over England in a rain-truncated final here, leaving the hosts "devastated" by another failed attempt to break their long-standing jinx of winning a major ODI title.
After persistent showers reduced the contest to a T20 affair, India first scored 129 for seven and then restricted England to 124 for eight in a topsy-turvy game that left a capacity crowd at the edge of their seats in the tense dying moments of the summit showdown.
Ravindra Jadeja (33 not out and 2/24) made another all-round contribution in India's dramatic win which also gave Mahendra Singh Dhoni the remarkable distinction of being the only captain in international cricket to win three world titles.

The sizeable Indian crowd, who defied rains and the chilly winds, erupted in joy when Ravichandran Ashwin (2/15) finished the final over with James Tredwell unable to hit the required six off the last delivery.
Skipper Dhoni jumped in joy as the delirious Indian players hugged each others while the others were busy collecting stumps as souvenir to mark another glorious chapter in history of Indian cricket.
This was India's second Champions Trophy title having won the first one jointly with Sri Lanka back in 2002. For India, the trophy also came two days before the 30th anniversary of maiden World Cup triumph back on June 25, 1983.

India's win left England still searching for their first major ODI trophy after defeats in three World Cup finals (1979, 1987 and 1992) and a loss to the West Indies at The Oval in the 2004 Champions Trophy final when they last staged.

"We are devastated...As a captain I had high hopes of achieving something special. We had the opportunity but could not do it," Cook said after the match.
For the Indian skipper, the victory was all the more special as he became the only captain to have won three ICC tournaments --T20 World Cup in 2007, the ODI World Cup in 2011 and now the Champions Trophy.

It was a commendable show by the Indians who not only maintained an unbeaten track record right through the event but managed to put behind the spot-fixing scandal that rocked Indian cricket just before the start of the tournament.