England 201-7 (Taylor 82, Buttler 67; Binny 3-33.) beat India 200 (Rahane 73; Finn 3-36)
James Taylor and Jos Buttler expertly guided England into the Carlton Tri-Series with a three-wicket victory against India on a tricky pitch at the WACA.
The WACA pitch in Perth, known for it's extreme pace and bounce, made England's seemingly routine chase of a lacklustre 201 a tough grind right until the very end.
Eoin Morgan won the toss and chose to bowl on a tacky Perth wicket that prompted both captains to state they would have chosen to bowl.
England bowled brilliantly to restrict India to a lacklustre 200 all out with only Ajinkya Rahane ever looking comfortably in compiling a steady 73. Steven Finn was the pick of the England bowlers once again as he stuck to a consistent line and length on the indifferent wicket to finish with three wickets. Two of those thanks to superb catches by Ian Bell at first slip.
Stuart Broad also chipped in with two wickets, his first of the tri-series, as all five England bowlers took at least one wicket. Chris Woakes took two, James Anderson one and Moeen Ali continued to trouble the Indian batsman as he removed dangermen Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina cheaply.
Only Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan (38) and number eleven Mohammed Shami (25) put England under any pressure with the bat for India.
The indifference bounce on display was best displayed as James Anderson hit Indian skipper M.S Dhoni on the helmet and trapped him LBW with similar-pitched deliveries. The pitch would only get more difficult as the game progessed into England's innings.
England's chase began cautiously and Ian Bell was first to go for England in the fourth over as he was trapped LBW for 10 with a delivery that kept low from Mohit Sharma.
Moeen Ali and James Taylor then built an encouraging second-wicket stand as they battled excellent Indian new-ball bowling alongside a increasingly difficult wicket.
However, Ali then fell trying to change the momentum of the innings, lifting spinner Axar Patel's first delivery to long-off for . Ali will be disappointed with the dismissal as the run-rate didn't require England to play high-risk shots.
England suffered a middle-order collapse as Root was smartly caught and bowled by Stuart Binny for three. Binny then had England captain Eoin Morgan caught at mid-on for two as the ball stuck in the wicket.
In his next over, Binny had Ravi Bopara caught for six by Jadeja at backward point. Bopara's spot in the middle-order is increasingly under pressure and the poor nature of the dismissal will be of major disappointment to the Essex batsman.
Jos Buttler came to the crease with England 66-5 and was nearly sent back soon after as Rahane missed a simple run-out chance with the England wicketkeeper not in the frame.
After that missed opportunity, Buttler and Taylor produced a masterclass in chasing a low total on a tricky pitch as they offered very little hope to the Indian bowlers in a partnership of 125 to leave England on the brink of victory.
Buttler provided the impetus as he struck seven boundaries in a superb 67 but he was overshadowed by Taylor who rotated the strike cleverly in his 82 that included just four boundaries.
That Taylor was only placed in the England squad half-way through the Sri Lanka series at the back end of 2014 is an error that England spotted far too late. Luckily, the Nottinghamshire batsman is now in the line-up and is set to play a pivotal role for his country in the World Cup.
Taylor was eventually dismissed top edging a pull from Mohit Sharma with ten runs still needed and when Buttler was caught at deep cover with eight still required, England fans began to panic.
However, defensive captaincy from Dhoni and an odd decision to bowl Ravindra Jadeja over Stuart Binny allowed Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad to knock off the few runs required and send England into the final.
The Indian side now head into their World-Cup warm-up fixtures still looking for their first victory in Australia since arriving in December for four Test matches and the Tri-Series.
As for England, they will now have to prepare to play the hosts Australia in the final. The same pitch will likely be used for the match on Sunday and the England top and middle-order batsman will have to learn to face the indifferent bounce alongside the exceptional pace of the Australian quicks.