LONDON, Sept 25: Brian Lara's West Indies held their nerve to beat England in a dramatic Champions Trophy final on Saturday and lift their first major one-day title for 25 years.

The West Indians, in what is likely to be Lara's last international match in England, dismissed the home side for 217, Marcus Trescothick contributing a fine century, then fought back from 147 for eight to triumph by two wickets in near darkness in front of a stunned capacity crowd at The Oval.

Tailenders Ian Bradshaw (34) and Courtney Browne (35), to their credit, refused to go off when offered the light and put together a 71-run unbroken ninth-wicket stand to seal an unlikely victory with seven balls to spare. Both recorded career-best one-day international scores.

West Indies' last success at the top level came with their World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979.

For England, the world's only leading side not to have won a top limited-overs tournament, looked certain of victory before Bradshaw's and Browne's heroics.-Reuters