T20 World Cup final: India thrash New Zealand to make history with third title and first for any team on home turf
India first side to win three Men's T20 World Cup titles, first to go back-to-back and first to triumph at home as New Zealand's wait for maiden World Cup title goes on; Sanju Samson hits 89 - just like vs England in semi-final - as India pile on 255-5 in Ahmedabad; Kiwis all out for 159
Sunday 8 March 2026 20:33, UK
India became the first men's side to win the T20 World Cup three times and the first to claim back-to-back titles with an emphatic 96-run victory over New Zealand continuing their white-ball dominance.
India smoked 255-5 after losing the toss in Ahmedabad, with Sanju Samson (89 off 46) passing fifty for the third straight match and opening partner Abhishek Sharma (52 off 21) slamming the fastest fifty of this year's tournament, from 18 deliveries.
New Zealand were bundled out for 159 in 19 overs in reply - they were 72-5 after 8.1 - as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (4-15) bagged each of his wickets with slower balls.
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Bumrah was on a hat-trick after cleaning up Jimmy Neesham (8) and Matt Henry (0) in the 16th over and ended with career-best T20I figures after dismissing New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner (43 off 35).
Ishan Kishan - who had earlier tonked 54 from 25 balls - also produced two excellent catches, the second of which, a juggling effort at deep midwicket, removed Tim Seifert (52 off 26), and then a simple grab to get rid of Daryl Mitchell (17).
Since going over a decade without picking up a global limited-overs title following Champions Trophy glory in England in 2013, India have won the last three, with their T20 triumphs in 2024 and now this year sandwiching the 2025 Champions Trophy.
India beat New Zealand in that 50-over final a year ago and routed the same side on Sunday, becoming the first men's team to win the T20 World Cup at home and extending the Black Caps' wait for a maiden World Cup title after a fourth defeat in a final.
India get off to a flier in final
An early onslaught left the Kiwis shellshocked as Samson and Abhishek pounded India to 98-0 after seven overs - ample wides adding to the score and New Zealand's decision to select pacer Jacob Duffy (0-42) in place of off-spinner Cole McConchie spectacularly backfiring - while the hosts were then 203-1 after 15.
Neesham's three-wicket burst in one over, in which Samson, Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav all fell - Suryakumar for a golden duck to a diving catch from Rachin Ravindra in the deep - dragged New Zealand back into the game, only for Shivam Dube (26no off 8) to collar Neesham's final over for 24 as India eclipsed the 253-7 they piled on against England in the semi-final run-fest in Mumbai.
Dube dropped Finn Allen on nought in the first over of the chase, a blunder that could have cost India with the Kiwi opener blazing a T20 World Cup record 33-ball hundred in the nine-wicket demolition of South Africa in the last four.
However, Allen (9) holed out off Axar (3-27) Patel before Bumrah removed Ravindra (1) with his first delivery - a superb slower ball that Kishan caught on the dive at deep square - and India went on claim a first victory over New Zealand in four attempts at T20 World Cups following losses in 2007, 2016 and 2021.
India will aim to claim a first 50-over World Cup since the 2011 edition on home soil when the ODI showpiece is next held in Africa towards the end of 2027, having finished runners-up to Australia in 2023.
India banish Ahmedabad blues
Since that defeat in Ahmedabad three years ago, India have only suffered one loss across the next three ICC limited-overs events - earlier this month against South Africa in the Super 8s, also in Ahmedabad.
There would be no issues at that venue against New Zealand, though, with batting brutality, fielding excellence - bar Dube's early dose of butterfingers and some sloppy errors from Hardik Pandya - and genius Bumrah playing their part.
Bumrah's final wicket came when he castled Santner with a delicious off-cutter in the 18th over, before Abhishek picked up the title-winning wicket when Duffy (3) skied to Tilak Varma at long-on.
New Zealand's runners-up finish follows the same result in the 2015 and 2019 50-over World Cups and 2021 T20 World Cup.
They lost by the "barest of margins", to nick Ian Smith's iconic phrase, against England in an ODI World Cup epic seven years ago at Lord's, but this defeat at Narendra Modi Stadium was gargantuan.
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