England allowed an overdue piece of history to slip from their grasp as India instead won the Champions Trophy final by five runs on this day in 2013.
Without a one-day international global tournament win after 38 years of trying and 17 attempts, the hosts spurned a golden opportunity to claim an elusive 50-over title at Edgbaston.
In a match restricted to 20 overs per innings due to almost six hours of rain delays, England were favourites after keeping India to 129 for seven.
After a top-order wobble, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara put the home side well on the way to victory, but with 20 needed in 16 balls the pair fell to successive Ishant Sharma deliveries.
From 110 for four they subsided to 124 for eight as India closed out victory in front of an Edgbaston crowd that contained many ecstatic India supporters.
A dejected Alastair Cook could not hide his disappointment and when asked if it was his worst moment with England, he said: “As a captain, yeah.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow at the moment. We had high hopes coming in today of achieving something special.
“Clearly from there you would back yourself to win more times than you would lose in that situation, but it shows how quickly games can change in Twenty20 when you lose a couple of wickets.
“We got close. I’m proud of the way the lads have fought from being under a fair bit of pressure in this tournament.
“Quite a lot of criticism and flak has been thrown our way and yet we got to the final and played some good cricket. We just couldn’t quite get over the line.”
England’s long wait for a maiden 50-over title later came to an end with their stunning Cricket World Cup triumph in 2019.
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