India have made T20 World Cup history against New Zealand in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad, shrugging off immense pressure as defending champions and co-host to become the first team to defend the title and the first three-time winners in the tournament’s history.
Two years on from edging South Africa in that epic 2024 final, India emerged victorious in front of a crowd of almost 90,000 by beating New Zealand – for the second time in a year at an ICC final – by a whopping 96 runs at the same venue where in 2023 their dominant ODI World Cup campaign came to a screeching halt against Pat Cummins’ Australia.
They have been far from their best in this World Cup, but this team has won the clutch moments to make it to the final, where they underlined their devastating batting potential to put up 255/5 on the board.
It marked a remarkable comeback from their previous match at this venue, a record 76-run loss to South Africa on February 22. After that loss, India won their remaining Super Eights matches to reach the semi-finals, where they pipped England by seven runs in a high-scoring encounter.
The Black Caps’ bid to silence the home crowd and lift the trophy for the first time came undone from the time Mitchell Santner won the toss, put India into bat and looked on as the home team’s batting juggernaut smashed its way to a record this 250-plus score this tournament.
Abhishek Sharma, widely vilified for his poor returns thus far, smashed the tournament’s fastest fifty, off just 18 deliveries; Sanju Samson added to his back-to-back terrific knocks of 97 and 89 with another terrific 89; Ishan Kishan biffed his way to his own fifty in 23 deliveries; and Shivam Dube got the score past 250 after wickets had slowed down India, with an unbeaten 26 off eight balls.
Samson continued his outstanding run in the tournament with 89 off 46 balls, bringing up his third consecutive fifty, while Abhishek smashed the fastest half-century of this year’s World Cup — reaching the milestone from just 18 deliveries during a blistering 52 off 21 balls.
The pair tore into New Zealand’s attack from the outset, propelling India to 98 without loss inside seven overs as the bowlers struggled to contain the early onslaught. The Black Caps’ decision to replace off-spinner Cole McConchie with seamer Jacob Duffy backfired badly, with Duffy conceding 42 runs without reward. By the 15th over, India had surged to 203/1 and looked set for an even bigger total.
New Zealand briefly clawed their way back into the contest when Jimmy Neesham struck three times in one over, dismissing Samson, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav — the latter falling for a golden duck to a superb diving catch by Rachin Ravindra. But Dube delivered the finishing flourish, plundering 24 runs from Neesham’s final over to push India beyond the 253/7 they had posted in the semi-final against England.
New Zealand’s chase never truly gathered momentum. Dube dropped Finn Allen in the opening over, offering a brief scare after the opener’s record-breaking century in the semi-final against South Africa, but Allen fell soon after for nine to Axar Patel.
Jasprit Bumrah then took control with a masterclass in pace bowling. Ravindra fell to Bumrah’s very first delivery — a perfectly disguised slower ball — and the Indian spearhead went on to claim career-best T20 international figures of 4-15, repeatedly outfoxing the batters with variations.
Tim Seifert (52 off 26) and Santner (43 off 35) briefly resisted, but New Zealand were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19 overs, sealing India’s first T20 World Cup victory over the Black Caps after defeats in 2007, 2016 and 2021.
The triumph capped a remarkable run for India, who have now won three global limited-overs titles in succession — the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 2025 Champions Trophy and now another T20 crown — cementing their dominance in world cricket.
