India beat South Africa by seven runs in a heart-stopping final to win the Twenty20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval on Saturday.

Electing to bat on a dry surface, 2007 champions India overcame a top-order meltdown to post a competitive 176-7.

Virat Kohli (76) struck his first 50 of this World Cup and Axar Patel smashed 47 to power India to a healthy total.

Anrich Nortje and Keshav Maharaj claimed two wickets apiece for South Africa.

The Proteas suffered a top order collapse of their own but Quinton de Kock (39) and Tristan Stubbs (31) put their chase back on track.

Heinrich Klaasen (52) then counter-attacked in spectacular fashion but India's impeccable death-overs bowling restricted South Africa to 169-8.

After the match, Kohli confirmed that he was quitting T20 Internationals.

"This was my last T20 game playing for India," player-of-the-match Kohli said following India's victory.

"Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward." (Reuters)