TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: Since that emotional night of November 19, 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, India won the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, but the feeling of incompleteness persisted due to heartbreak in the 50-over World Cup final.
In the build-up to the 2026 title clash at the same venue, the unforgettable past was recalled. Although Suryakumar Yadav had not lost a single series since he took over in 2024, the World Cup hype was approached with caution. In the final, the team that carried the weight of a billion hopes in 2026 and a billion heartbreaks in 2023, delivered. And delivered with aplomb!
A dominant India completely outclassed New Zealand to seal a commanding victory and become the only T20I team in history to lift back-to-back World Cup titles, and also became the first team to win the trophy on home soil. The much-awaited title clash turned out to be a no-contest with Suryakumar Yadav and Co. clinically owning the night, the occasion and the match to add another ICC trophy to their cabinet. This was coach Gautam Gambhir’s second title in as many matches in charge, completing a thoroughly entertaining and dominant two-year cycle leading up to the big night in Ahmedabad.
Chasing a mammoth figure of 256 runs, New Zealand never got going. Maybe it was the noise. Maybe it was the Indian bowling, but barring Tim Seifert (52) and captain Mitchell Santner (43), none of the other batsmen worked for the BlackCaps. Santner had wanted to replicate Pat Cummins & Co. from three years ago, but in the end it was a bland demonstration.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah took 4/15 and was close to achieving a hat-trick at one point. Axar Patel took three; Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakaravarthy and Abhishek Sharma got one each. Only Arshdeep Singh, who would make headlines for his unnecessary attack on Daryl Mitchell, was left without a wicket.
Sometimes a shot brings a player back to form, but for India, Lockie Ferguson’s powerplay opened the floodgates and set the tone for the rest of the innings. The edges flew in unwanted directions but achieved the desired result. The New Zealand sprinter attempted to overcompensate by erring on length and was treated with disdain. Control was not his strongest point in the fourth over, which went for 24 runs and also lifted the first 50-run opening stand in a T20 World Cup final since the 2009 edition.
India openers Sanju Samson (89 off 46 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (52 off 21 balls) made 98 runs in just 43 balls after New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and opted to play at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The opening stand set the tone for India as they scored 255 for 5.
Abhishek Sharma was not in complete control, but he took advantage of his luck to make enough connection or find the right location. There were a couple of opportunities for the defenders, but there was “just enough” left for the power play. Only overspin in the powerplay turned out to be a tactical error by the Black Caps as both Sanju Samson and Abhishek delighted in some very ordinary bowling to score 92/0, the highest powerplay score in the tournament’s history. Although the two had different percentages of control, they easily found and cleared boundaries, giving the team an ominous start.
The first two overs, when fielding restrictions were in place, were the only time India seemed happy to block a few deliveries as absolute carnage unfolded the moment Jacob Duffy came into the attack. After 12/0 at the end of the second over, the openers added 80 runs in the next four overs. Abhishek continued to bat with the same speed, as he had yearned for in the games leading up to the title clash, and reached the fastest half-century of the tournament off just 18 balls. Coach Gautam Gambhir’s warm embrace during the break showed how the dressing room was always behind him and celebrated what was a magnificent knock under pressure.
While Abhishek departed soon after scoring his half-century, Samson continued as usual, looking in perfect form and completing his third consecutive half-century in the tournament. Shot selection, clean connections and effortless ability to sweetly time the ball had New Zealand bowlers ducking for cover. Both Samson and the next batsman, Ishan Kishan (54 off 25 balls), did not let the momentum slip away and together added 105 runs off just 48 balls to put the Kiwis on the mat.
From the moment he came out to bat, Ishan looked like a man possessed and instantly found his place, just as he has been doing for the last few months. There was muscle, grace and plenty of runs as India put up another daunting display with the bat. It was something that was expected from this dangerous unit before the start of the tournament and something that finally happened when it mattered most, in the Super 8, the semi-final and now the final.
Samson’s 46-ball 89 and Kishan’s 25-ball 54 were exactly the contributions India needed from their top order in this batting paradise, which was helped by listless bowling. James Neesham briefly applied the brakes with a tight third over but Shivam Dube (26 not out off 8 balls) was ready to play another stunning hand to take the total beyond 250 and well beyond the Kiwis’ reach.
The 256-run chase required the Kiwis to not only fly but soar. They had the firepower in the ranks but a big match, a full Indian bowling attack and more than 85,000 fans behind the defending champions meant it was going to be anything but a repeat of the dominance seen in the Eden Gardens semi-final. The powerplay is the key in these mammoth chases and India triumphed in the first six overs to break the opponent’s back before they could gain momentum in the run chase.
It could have been much worse had Shivam Dube not interrupted Arshdeep Singh’s celebration by dropping a model off his bowling, but the combined brilliance of left-arm spinner Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel reduced the opponents to just 52/3.
Short scores:
India: 255 for 5 in 20 overs. (Sanju Samson 89, Ishan Kishan 54, Abhishek Sharma 52; James Neesham 3/46).
New Zealand: 159 all out in 19 overs. (Tim Seifert 52, J Bumrah 4/15, Axar Patel 3/23).