India vs England: Top 5 key moments which added to the excitement

With persistent rain in Birmingham reducing the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 to a Twenty20 contest amidst umpteenth stoppages, the men in blue pulled off a stunning win to beat the hosts by five runs in a tense thriller. Here is a quick look at the top 5 game changing moments from the match.

1) Crucial toss won by England - With Dhoni himself conceding that the toss held the key in the all important final, it was no surprise when England won the toss and opted to field as  the pitch had been under covers for some time following overcast conditions. While the match was reduced to a T20 affair soon after, it was advantage England even before the match could start.

2) Bopara's triple strikes - Ravi Bopara's introduction in the eighth over was instrumental in derailing the momentum of the Indian innings. Shikhar Dhawan until that point was in a rampaging mood slamming 31 in just 24 balls, before Bopara's length delivery outside off was played uppishly towards cover by Dhawan in a rather soft dismissal. In his brilliant third over, Bopara got the prized scalps of both Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni resulting in not only  a double-wicket maiden, but also a game changing over.

3) Jadeja's late assault - Coming into bat in the 13^th over of the innings, Jadeja had the unenviable job of not only stabilising the innings, but scoring runs at a fair clip in order to ensure that the team posts a competitive score. Jadeja along with Kohli who top-scored with 43 runs revived the Indian innings as the duo blazed to 47 runs in 33 balls in a partnership that wrested back the initiative from England. Jadeja's unbeaten knock of 33 came off just 25 balls, powered with two hits to the fence and two over it, helping India post a challenging 129 for 7 in the final.

4) Early pressure from Indian bowlers - Taking early wickets was the only way India could have made a match out of this and the bowlers happily obliged. Having the presence of Cook, Bell and Trott in the England top-order, it didn't take long for India to tie the batsman down as the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The introduction of spinners kept the English batsman on a tight leash as they stifled the scoring rate resulting in a rare top-order collapse.

5) Ishant's double blows - Requiring 20 runs off 16 balls from an unbroken 5^th wicket partnership of 54 runs between Morgan and Bopara , it seemed all but over for India. But there was a twist in the tale as Ishant managed to get rid of both the batsman in consecutive balls of the 18^th over resulting in England needing 19 off the last two overs. With India holding their nerves till the very end, the tournament favorites beat England by five runs in a tense finish to clinch the last edition of the Champions Trophy in Twenty20 style.