ICC T20 World Cup 2026 | India are world champions again, defend their title

Underdogs New Zealand needed an Herculean effort if they were to scale the highest total in a T20 World Cup final.

Ahmedabad: Great expectations turned into unbridled ecstasy as the Indian team created history by lifting the ICC T20 World Cup for a record third time, the defending champions producing the perfect performance they’d been seeking all tournament in the grand finale on the grandest stage here on Sunday.

Sanju Samson, in the form of his life since his return to the playing XI, smashed another brilliant 89 off 46 balls, his under-fire opening partner Abhishek Sharma cracked a fortunate 52 off 21 balls while one-drop Ishan Kishan hammered a superb 54 off 25 balls as India rode on the top-three carnage and late blitz from Shivam Dube (26 n.o., 8b) to post an imposing 255/5 in front of a packed house at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Underdogs New Zealand, who made a lot of tactical mistakes while bowling with skipper Mitchell Santner at fault for all of those, needed an Herculean effort if they were to scale the highest total in a T20 World Cup final. Yes, the pitch was flat just like it was in their exceptional semifinal chase against South Africa last Wednesday in Kolkata but this Indian team are masters at handling high-pressure games unlike the Proteas. And the Kiwis, the eternal bridesmaids in ICC limited-overs events, felt the full force of it as Jasprit Bumrah (4/15) and Co delivered a masterclass to dismiss them for 159, India romping to a massive 96-run victory.

India, who won the ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup last year, were cautious to begin with, and understandably so. It was the final where an early mistake could prove costly. But the moment Abhishek smashed Jacob Duffy for back-to-back boundaries in the third over followed by a Samson four off the last ball, India never looked back as they sped along like a bullet train, rummaging through everything in their path.

World No. 1 batter Abhishek, whose form had been atrocious this World Cup with three ducks and just one fifty, had the much-needed luck coming his way. The edges either fell in no-man’s land or flew to boundaries as everything that had to go wrong for New Zealand went wrong. But Santner was to blame as he opted to give off-spinner Glenn Phillips just one over early on despite that variety of bowling being Abhishek’s weakness. The southpaw didn’t complain as he accepted the gift with both hands to brutalise the Kiwis.

At the other end, Samson, who has been seeing cricket ball like a football, continued to bat with gay abandon. Straight shots down the grounds, flicks over mid-wicket, pulls and drives, the right-hander reprised the breathless batting that the cricketing world witnessed the last two times. With both Samson and Abhishek going berserk, runs were coming at the rate of knots, India reaching 92/0 in Power Play (6 overs). At the way they were going, murmurs of 300, which was huge at the start of the tournament, gained traction again.

Against the run of play, Abhishek departed in the eighth over but he’d done his job, stitching a 98-run stand off 43 balls. The incoming Kishan ensured the momentum never dipped, the southpaw playing the big shots right from the get-go. Samson too maintained the high tempo, a dumbstruck New Zealand looking bereft of ideas as literally no bowler was spared by the merciless Indians on a belter of a surface.

New Zealand, against the tide, somehow managed to pull things back when Jimmy Neesham (3/46) dismissed Samson, Kishan and Suryakumar in the 16th over. It looked India’s high-speed run would be brought to a screeching halt but Dube clobbered 24 runs in the final over to power India past 250 for a third straight time that ensured they had one hand on the trophy. The bowlers then ensured both hands were laid emphatically to complete a memorable night for this supremely dominant Indian side.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA

Samson c sub b Neesham 89

(46b, 5x4, 8x6)

Abhishek c Seifert b Ravindra 52

(21b, 6x4, 3x6)

Kishan c Chapman b Neesham 54

(25b, 4x4, 4x6)

Pandya c Santner b Henry 18

(13b, 1x4, 1x6)

Suryakumar c Ravindra b Neesham 0

(1b)

Varma (not out) 8

(6b, )

Dube (not out) 26

(8b, 3x4, 2x6)

Extras (W-8) 8

TOTAL (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 255

Fall of wickets: 1-98 (Abhishek), 2-203 (Samson), 3-204 (Kishan), 4-204 (Suryakumar), 5-226 (Pandya).

Bowling: Henry 4-0-49-1 (w-4), Phillips 1-0-5-0, Duffy 3-0-42-0 (w-1), Ferguson 2-0-48-0 (w-3), Santner 4-0-33-0, Ravindra 2-0-32-1, Neesham 4-0-46-3.

NEW ZEALAND

Seifert c Kishan b Chakravarthy 52

(26b, 2x4, 5x6)

Allen c Varma b Axar 9

(7b, 1x4)

Ravindra c Kishan b Bumrah 1

(2b)

Phillips b Axar 5

(5b, 1x4)

Chapman b Pandya 3

(8b)

Mitchell c Kishan b Axar 17

(11b, 2x6)

Santner b Bumrah 43

(35b, 3x4, 2x6)

Neesham b Bumrah 8

(7b, 1x4)

Henry b Bumrah 0

(1b)

Ferguson (not out) 6

(7b)

Duffy c Varma b Abhishek 3

(5b)

Extras (B-4, LB-1, W-7) 12

TOTAL (all out, 19 overs) 159

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Allen), 2-32 (Ravindra), 3-47 (Phillips), 4-70 (Chapman), 5-72 (Seifert), 6-124 (Mitchell), 7-141 (Neesham), 8-141 (Henry), 9-152 (Santner).

Bowling: Arshdeep 4-0-32-0 (w-5), Pandya 4-0-36-1 (w-1), Axar 3-0-27-3, Bumrah 4-0-15-4 (w-1), Chakravarthy 3-0-39-1, Abhishek 1-0-5-1.

Result: India won 96 runs.

PoM: Jasprit Bumrah

PoS: Sanju Samson