Spin pair James Tredwell (4-48) and Graeme Swann (3-36) were the heroes as the Windies fell just short of their target of 243.
Earlier, Andrew Strauss had won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch which was clearly playing much better than in the previous low-scoring victory over South Africa.
All of the top four batsmen got themselves in - Strauss scored 31, Matt Prior 21, Jonathan Trott 47 and Ian Bell 27 - before giving their wicket away.
Then, just one over after Bell had been dismissed, bowled by Kemar Roach, Eoin Morgan was caught behind attempting a reverse sweep off debutant bowler Devendra Bishoo.
And when Andre Russell bowled Ravi Bopara for just four, England looked to be in tatters on 151-6.
But Luke Wright's 44 edged England nearer a competitive total although, once again, they fell short of batting for 50 overs.
That fact looked like it might cost England dear as the Windies closed in on a victory which would have sent them through with India and Bangladesh.
Remarkably, the Windies had found themselves in a very similar position to England at 150-6 after big-hitter Keiron Pollard was trapped lbw by Swann for 24.
However, a stand of 72 between Ramnaresh Sarwan (31) and Russell (49) seemed as if it would be sufficient.
At 222-6, Windies required just 19 more runs from nine overs (54 balls) - England desperately needed four wickets.
Somehow, over the course of the following four overs, England got them - and for the addition of just three runs.
First, Russell's innings was brought to an end one short of a half-century after he was trapped lbw by Tredwell.
Then, Swann had Sarwan caught a short leg by Bell and Roach caught in the deep by Tremlett in the same over.
Finally, the climax to another great game arrived in the 45th over when the Windies made a foolish attempt at a second run and Sulieman Benn failed to make his ground.
England's players unsurprisingly celebrated wildly at the fact that they were not coming home early after a Group B campaign has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Tight wins over West Indies and eventual group winners South Africa, a fine tie against India and an unconvincing victory over Netherlands have proven to be enough to set up a Quarter Final against Sri Lanka next Saturday.
The less said about the matches against Ireland and Bangladesh, the better.
But, if nothing else, England have done wonders for a tournament which was panned in its build-up for lacking in intensity and featuring too many one-sided matches.
Group Stage Reflections
In fairness, there were still too many thumpings with Kenya setting the tone on the second day of the tournament by being bowled out for just 69 against New Zealand.
Bangladesh, though, were the biggest disappointment. Their victory over England had given them a great chance to progress and put to bed the criticism which they have faced since joining the Test arena to no great effect in 2000.
But, despite having all their matches on home soil, the Tigers were bowled out for just 58 by West Indies and 78 by South Africa, and so featured in two of the most one-sided games.
South Africa had even afforded Bangladesh the privilege of facing a second-string seam attack with Dale Steyn and Mornel Morkel rested.
However, in Imran Tahir, the Proteas have discovered a top-class spinner, previously a void in their team and they should have won all six group games.
Indeed, Graeme Smith's men would have done if they had held their nerve in chasing a small target against England.
But they improved their chances of shedding their chokers tag in their next match against India by scrambling to victory by three wickets with two balls to spare.
Pre-tournament favourites India have provided some fine individual displays with the bat but they have still been under-par overall.
Virender Sehwag opened the tournament in style by scoring 175 in a big win against Bangladesh.
However, India failed to win on the two occasions that Sachin Tendulkar scored a ton, tying against England and losing to South Africa.
There were also unconvicing five-wicket victories over Associate pair Ireland and Netherlands with Yuvraj Singh scoring half-centuries on both occasions.
But, then after the disappointment of the South Africa game, Yuvraj ensured India would finish the group stages on a high note, scoring a century in an 87-run win over West Indies.
MS Dhoni's men now host Australia in the most mouth-watering of the Quarter Finals after the Aussies qualified from Group A alongside Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
Indeed, Group A was easier to call than Group B with a greater gulf between the heavyweights and the minnows in the section.
Even here, though, there were still some surprises and notable individual performances which have helped this World Cup to rise above expectations.
With captain Shahid Afridi to the fore and seamer Umar Gul in great form, Pakistan topped the pool to the surprise of many.
On the way, they beat Sri Lanka and ended Australia's long unbeaten World Cup run of 34 matches.
The Aussies had last tasted World Cup defeat in 1999 at Headingley - to Pakistan - before going on to win that tournament and subsequent events in 2003 and 2007.
And a washout in the match against Sri Lanka means antipodean rivals New Zealand are the only major which team who Ricky Ponting's men have beaten so far in this World Cup.
That victory over the Black Caps came just a day after the Christchurch earthquake disaster in which 182 people died, and prompted a pre-match huddle between both sets of players.
But the Kiwis bounced back with a brilliant display against Pakistan as Ross Taylor had a 27th birthday to remember.
Remarkably, Taylor's unbeaten 131 helped New Zealand score 113 runs from their final six overs in a merciless display of huge hits for six against some poor death bowling.
Meanwhile, Lasith Malinga turned in another virtuoso display to become the first man to take two World Cup hat-tricks, adding to the one he got in 2007 against South Africa.
Some correspondents argued that Malinga's efforts this time were somewhat wasted on a hapless Kenya team who were easily the worst at the tournament.
But, in fairness to the Kenyans on this occasion, Malinga's yorkers would have dismissed more talented batsmen than they could field.
Incredibly, Sri Lanka almost celebrated another hat-trick courtesy of Tillakaratne Dilshan in their penultimate match against the slowly-improving Zimbabwe.
The indefatigable Dilshan, who had scored 144 in the match with the bat, was only denied the feat after Mahela Jayawardene not dropped a sitter in the slips.
Admittedly, though, Jayawardene had just taken a fine catch there moments earlier.
However, there was a second hat-trick in the World Cup, making it seven overall in the tournament history, and it came as Windies bowler Roach cleaned up the Dutch tail in Group B.
The 22-year-old from Barbados finished that game with superb figures of 6-27 though, by then, the Dutch had already had their brightest moment of the World Cup.
That came in the form of Ryan ten Doeschate's magnificent century in a losing cause as England just sneaked home against the Dutch with eight balls to spare.
Essex batsmen ten Doeschate was unsurprisingly the main Dutch hope and he also scored another fruitless century in a defeat to Ireland.
But, if we're talking about big hitting against England, there is really only one person to mention and it is only fair that this column finishes on my World Cup highlight so far.
Kevin O'Brien's majestic 113 off 63 balls included the fastest World Cup century from just 50 balls as the Irish shocked England in Bangalore.
Thankfully, O'Brien's efforts did not end up denying England a place in the last-eight and, more importantly, they furthered Ireland's push for full-member status in the ICC.
For this particular tournament, though, Ireland's dream is over, albeit with a second chapter of memories to add to their success in the 2007 tournament.
Meanwhile, for England, there can be no more bad days at the office from now on.
WORLD CUP RESULTS/TABLES
GROUP A FIXTURES
AUSTRALIA + CANADA + KENYA + NEW ZEALAND + PAKISTAN + SRI LANKA + ZIMBABWE
Qualified for the Quarter Finals: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand
AUSTRALIA + CANADA + KENYA + NEW ZEALAND + PAKISTAN + SRI LANKA + ZIMBABWE
Qualified for the Quarter Finals: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand
| Date | Venue | Result |
| 20 Feb | Chennai | NEW ZEALAND 72-0 beat KENYA 69 by 10 wickets |
| 20 Feb | Hambantota | SRI LANKA 332-7 beat CANADA 122 by 210 runs |
| 21 Feb | Ahmedabad | AUSTRALIA 262-6 beat ZIMBABWE 171 by 91 runs |
| 23 Feb | Hambantota | PAKISTAN 317-7 beat KENYA 112 by 205 runs |
| 25 Feb | Nagpur | AUSTRALIA 207-3 bt NEW ZEALAND 206 by seven wkts |
| 26 Feb | Colombo | PAKISTAN 277-7 beat SRI LANKA 266-9 by 11 runs |
| 28 Feb | Nagpur | ZIMBABWE 298-9 beat CANADA 123 by 175 runs |
| 1 Mar | Colombo | SRI LANKA 146-1 beat KENYA 142 by nine wickets |
| 3 Mar | Colombo | PAKISTAN 184 beat CANADA 138 by 46 runs |
| 4 Mar | Ahmedabad | NEW ZEALAND 166-0 bt ZIMBABWE 162 by 10 wkts |
| 5 Mar | Colombo | SRI LANKA 146-3 v AUSTRALIA (No result - rain) |
| 7 Mar | New Delhi | CANADA 199-5 beat KENYA 198 by five wickets |
| 8 Mar | Kandy | NEW ZEALAND 302-7 bt PAKISTAN 192 by 110 runs |
| 10 Mar | Kandy | SRI LANKA 327-6 beat ZIMBABWE 188 by 139 runs |
| 13 Mar | Mumbai | NEW ZEALAND 358-6 beat CANADA 261-9 by 97 runs |
| 13 Mar | Bangalore | AUSTRALIA 324-6 beat KENYA 264-6 by 60 runs |
| 14 Mar | Kandy | PAKISTAN 164-3 bt ZIMBABWE 151-7 by seven wkts (DL) |
| 16 Mar | Bangalore | AUSTRALIA 212-3 beat CANADA 211 by seven wickets |
| 18 Mar | Mumbai | SRI LANKA 265-9 bt NEW ZEALAND 153 by 112 runs |
| 19 Mar | Colombo | PAKISTAN 178-6 beat AUSTRALIA 176 by four wickets |
| 20 Mar | Kolkata | ZIMBABWE 308-6 beat KENYA 147 by 161 runs |
| W | L | NR | RR | Pts | |
| PAKISTAN | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.76 | 10 |
| SRI LANKA | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2.58 | 9 |
| AUSTRALIA | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1.12 | 9 |
| NEW ZEALAND | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1.13 | 8 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.03 | 4 |
| Canada | 1 | 5 | 0 | -1.99 | 2 |
| Kenya | 0 | 6 | 0 | -3.04 | 0 |
GROUP B FIXTURES
BANGLADESH + ENGLAND + INDIA + IRELAND + NETHERLANDS + SOUTH AFRICA + WEST INDIES
Qualified for the Quarter Finals: South Africa, India, England, West Indies
| Date | Venue | Result |
| 19 Feb | Dhaka | INDIA 370-4 beat BANGLADESH 283-9 by 87 runs |
| 22 Feb | Nagpur | ENGLAND 296-4 bt NETHERLANDS 292-6 by six wkts |
| 24 Feb | New Delhi | S AFRICA 223-3 bt WEST INDIES 222 by seven wkts |
| 25 Feb | Dhaka | BANGLADESH 205 beat IRELAND 178 by 27 runs |
| 27 Feb | Bangalore | INDIA 338 tied with ENGLAND 338-8 |
| 28 Feb | New Delhi | WEST INDIES 330-8 bt NETHERLANDS 115 by 215 runs |
| 2 Mar | Bangalore | IRELAND 329-7 beat ENGLAND 327-8 by three wickets |
| 3 Mar | Mohali | S AFRICA 351-5 bt NETHERLANDS 120 by 231 runs |
| 4 Mar | Dhaka | WEST INDIES 59-1 beat BANGLADESH 58 by nine wkts |
| 6 Mar | Chennai | ENGLAND 171 beat SOUTH AFRICA 165 by six runs |
| 6 Mar | Bangalore | INDIA 210-5 beat IRELAND 207 by five wickets |
| 9 Mar | New Delhi | INDIA 191-5 beat NETHERLANDS 189 by five wickets |
| 11 Mar | Mohali | WEST INDIES 275 beat IRELAND 231 by 44 runs |
| 11 Mar | Chittagong | BANGLADESH 227-8 beat ENGLAND 225 by two wickets |
| 12 Mar | Nagpur | SOUTH AFRICA 300-7 beat INDIA 296 by three wickets |
| 14 Mar | Chittagong | BANGLADESH 166-4 bt NETHERLANDS 160 by six wkts |
| 15 Mar | Kolkata | SOUTH AFRICA 272-7 beat IRELAND 141 by 131 runs |
| 17 Mar | Chennai | ENGLAND 243 beat WEST INDIES 225 by 18 runs |
| 18 Mar | Kolkata | IRELAND 307-4 beat NETHERLANDS 306 by six wkts |
| 19 Mar | Dhaka | SOUTH AFRICA 284-8 bt BANGLADESH 78 by 206 runs |
| 20 Mar | Chennai | INDIA 268 beat WEST INDIES 188 by 80 runs |
| W | L | T | RR | Pts | |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2.03 | 10 |
| INDIA | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0.77 | 9 |
| ENGLAND | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.07 | 7 |
| WEST INDIES | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1.65 | 6 |
| Bangladesh | 3 | 3 | 0 | -1.36 | 6 |
| Ireland | 2 | 4 | 0 | -0.70 | 4 |
| Netherlands | 0 | 6 | 0 | -2.05 | 0 |
KNOCKOUT PHASE
QUARTER FINALS
| Date | Venue | Result |
| 23 Mar | Dhaka | PAKISTAN 113-0 beat WEST INDIES 112 by 10 wickets |
| 24 Mar | Ahmedabad | INDIA 261-5 beat AUSTRALIA 260 by five wickets |
| 25 Mar | Dhaka | NEW ZEALAND 221-8 beat SOUTH AFRICA 172 by 49 runs |
| 26 Mar | Colombo | SRI LANKA 231-0 beat ENGLAND 229-6 by 10 wickets |
SEMI FINALS
| Date/time | Venue | Result |
| 29 Mar | Colombo | SRI LANKA 220-5 beat NEW ZEALAND 217 by five wickets |
| 30 Mar (10am) | Mohali | INDIA v PAKISTAN |
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