“I don’t mind a little bit of heartbreak,” New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said on the eve of the T20 World Cup final against India on home soil.
But in the end, it was only the New Zealanders’ hearts that were broken. Also.
The Black Caps have reached the World Cup final four times, losing four times. Two in the 50-over arena and two in T20. They are almost men in cricket.
The 96-run defeat against all-conquering India in Ahmedabad may not be as frustrating as the “narrow” loss to England in the 2019 one-day international disaster at Lord’s.
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India successfully defends title won in Caribbean 2024 and lifts T20 World Cup trophy again
At that time, there were cigarette papers between the teams. Had Santner gotten a bye in the Kiwis’ final innings, they might have been able to lift the trophy.
But on Sunday, a rift appeared between the two teams. India plundered 255 while New Zealand were punished for wayward bowling and strange planning. Accordingly, the Black Cap was bundled for $159.
They were almost eliminated from the match after India sprinted to 98-0 in seven overs. At 203-1 just after 3 p.m., they seemed to be in good spirits.
New Zealand miss out on World Cup glory again
Like all good underdogs, New Zealand have the ability to win games they aren’t expected to play. Few were there to cheer them on as they defeated unbeaten South Africa in the semi-finals, but Finn Allen’s T20 World Cup record 33 Boutons helped them crush South Africa.
But since defeating India in the 2000 Champions Trophy final, they have not been able to win a match with a global silver medal at stake, at least in white-ball cricket.
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Abhishek Sharma takes the trophy-clinching wicket for India as New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy dives into the deep.
They defeated India in Southampton in 2021 to win the 1st World Test Championship. This is the same team that beat them 3-0 at the end of 2024, making England lose a Test series to their rivals for the first time since they achieved this feat 12 years ago.
The Black Caps will need to channel that and their recent white-ball woes into the upcoming World Cup, the 2027 50-over edition in Africa and the 2028 T20 edition in New Zealand and Australia. There’s good reason to believe they can fight in them.
Several players are now in their mid-30s, including Santner, leading seamers Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson, and batsman Daryl Mitchell, but Allen and Rachin Ravindra, both 26, and fellow batsman and fellow gunner Glenn Phillips, 29, are here for the long haul.
The problem they are facing, and everyone is facing, is India. India secured their place as the preeminent white-ball team of the era by winning three consecutive ICC events: 2024 T20 World Cup, 2025 Champions Trophy and 2026 T20 World Cup.
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Sky Sports pundits Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton reflect on India’s T20 World Cup victory and what went wrong for New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium
India lost only one of the three matches they won the title against, against South Africa at the beginning of the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Terrifying depth and ‘genius’ Bumrah make India terrifying
Performance has not changed due to personnel changes. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from T20 are gone and Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have come in, although they remain a part of the ODI format.
The former ended this T20 World Cup with two brutal knockouts of 97 and 89 not out. The latter rebounded from three consecutive ducks and started the tournament with an 18-ball fifty in the final. Tilak Verma, who played against England’s Jofra Archer in the semi-finals, also has top talent.
India’s batting depth is scary.
It often bothers me that Yashasvi Jaiswal is not the fulcrum of the white-ball side. Maybe he will eventually too.
And then there’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 14-year-old who broke the IPL record. You have a feeling that sooner or later he’s going to step up. As IPL becomes more and more powerful, others will come along.
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India’s ‘genius’ Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets in T20 World Cup final, all won with slow balls
However, the man behind it all is bowling genius Jasprit Bumrah. He unsurprisingly came to the fore in the final, dismissing four New Zealanders with a slow ball after the batsmen went wild early on to round off a resounding victory.
Bumrah all but ended England’s hopes of reaching the finals in Thursday’s semi-final, conceding just six runs in an over and eight at the death after dismissing Harry Brook with an off-pace ball.
He is a cricket wizard.
Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain said: “The equation for India is very simple.
“A batting line-up full of powerful batsmen who can score above-average scores, and a bowler in Bumrah who probably scores below-par. He’s an absolute genius, and when you combine those two things, you’re virtually unbeatable.”
New Zealand once again won hearts but no trophy. India once again struck hearts and won the trophy.
We are likely to see more examples of the latter in the coming years. A dynasty is being built.
