India defeated New Zealand, who continue to maintain their white-ball dominance, by a huge margin of 96 runs, becoming the first men’s team to win the T20 World Cup three times and the first team to win consecutive titles.
India trailed at 255-5 after losing the toss in Ahmedabad, with Sanju Samson (89 off 46 balls) hitting the 50 mark for the third consecutive match and opening partner Abhishek Sharma (52 off 21 balls) hitting the tournament’s fastest fifty from 18 deliveries.
With pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (4-15) picking up each wicket with slow balls, New Zealand could muster just 159 all out in 19 overs, 72-5 at 18.1.
Bumrah completed his hat-trick by cleaning up Jimmy Neesham (8 overs) and Matt Henry (0 overs) in 16 overs, finishing with the best T20 performance of his career after dismissing New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner (35 overs) and 43 overs.
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India’s Sanju Samson smashed 89 off 46 balls to defeat New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final.
Ishan Kishan, who had scored 54 off 25 balls earlier, also took two great catches, the second with a deep midwicket juggle to remove Tim Seifert (52 off 26 balls), and then an easy catch to dislodge Daryl Mitchell (17 balls).
After more than a decade without winning a global limited-overs title since Champions Trophy glory in England in 2013, India have won the last three tournaments, a T20 in 2024 and a Champions Trophy in 2025 this year.
India beat New Zealand in the 50-over final in Dubai a year ago and routed them on Sunday, becoming the first men’s team to win a T20 World Cup at home, extending the Black Caps’ wait for their first World Cup title after suffering their fourth defeat in the final.
India loses badly in the final
An early onslaught shocked the Kiwis as Samson and Abhishek took India to 98-0 in seven overs, but enough wides added to the score and New Zealand’s decision to replace off-spinner Cole McConchie with pacer Jacob Duffy (0-42) backfired spectacularly, while the hosts were 203-1 after 15.
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Jimmy Neesham took three wickets in the 16th over of the final, eliminating Samson, Ishan Kishan and Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav.
Neesham’s three-wicket burst in one over, with Samson, Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav all falling, Suryakumar’s golden duck and Rachin Ravindra’s diving catch in the deep brought New Zealand back into the match, but Shivam Dube (8 innings 26 no) scored Neesham’s final over for 24, surpassing the 253-7 that India had amassed against England. Semi-final runfest in Mumbai.
Dube dropped Finn Allen for no score in the first over of the chase, but it was a blunder that could have been a huge flop for India, who defeated South Africa by nine wickets in the last four and scored a T20 World Cup record 33-ball hundred in the Kiwis’ opening match.
However, Allen (9) holed out from Axar (3-27) Patel before Bumrah removed Ravindra (1) with his first delivery (a brilliant slow ball that Kishan caught diving in deep square). India registered their first win against New Zealand in four tries in the T20 World Cup after defeats in 2007, 2016 and 2021.
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‘Magician’ Jasprit Bumrah dismisses Rachin Ravindra, who bowled first in Ahmedabad
India finished runners-up with Australia in 2023, and when the next ODI tournament is held in Africa at the end of 2027, they will aim to win the 50-over World Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in their home country in 2011.
India banishes Ahmedabad Blues
Since the defeat in Ahmedabad three years ago, India have suffered just one loss in the next three ICC limited-overs competitions. The T20 World Cup Super 8s match against South Africa was also held in Ahmedabad earlier this month.
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Kishan’s juggling catch took New Zealand opener Tim Seifert for 52 off 26 deliveries.
But there will be no problems at that venue against New Zealand, thanks to the brutality of the batting, good fielding (including an early butterfinger from Bar Dube and some sloppy mistakes from Hardik Pandya) and the genius of Bumrah.
Bumrah’s last wicket came in the 18th over when Santner won with a great off-cutter and Abhishek picked up the title-winning wicket when Duffy (3) slipped at long-on.
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New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell was dissatisfied with contact from a ball thrown by Arshdeep Singh towards the non-striker’s stumps.
New Zealand’s runners-up finish follows similar results in the 2015 and 2019 50-over World Cups and the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Seven years ago, in the epic ODI World Cup against England at Lord’s, they lost, to borrow Ian Smith’s iconic phrase, “nearly,” but this defeat at the Narendra Modi Stadium resonated.
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