Black Caps hammered by India in 2026 T20 World Cup final
Monday, 9 March 2026
T20 World Cup final, Ahmedabad: India 255-5 (Sanju Samson 89 from 46 balls, Ishan Kishan 54 from 25, Abhishek Sharma 52 from 21; Jimmy Neesham 3-46 from 4 overs) beat New Zealand 159 all out in 19 overs (Tim Seifert 52 from 26, Mitchell Santner 43 from 35; Jasprit Bumrah 4-15 from 4 overs, Axar Patel 3-27 from 3) by 96 runs. Click here for full scoreboard.
The Black Caps crumbled under pressure as India romped to victory in the T20 World Cup final.
Captain Mitchell Santner opted to bowl first after winning the toss, and the home side’s openers responded by ripping apart New Zealand’s bowling ‘attack’ in Ahmedabad on Monday morning (NZ time).
India reached 92-0 in the six over Power Play on their way to a massive 255-5 from their 20 overs, and NZ were never in contention in their chase, eventually being dismissed for 159 at the end of the 19th over.
The surprise move to select an out-of-form Jacob Duffy for a red-hot Cole McConchie proved to be a disastrous move, which aided India’s batting dominance.
After only 12 runs came in the first two overs of the final, Duffy conceded 15 from his first over and 20 from his next. In between, NZ's most experienced pace bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry lost their radar, delivering seven wides and giving up 45 runs in two overs.
At the end of the Power Play, India’s win probability was rated at 92.85%, and they’d surpassed the highest score made in a T20 World Cup final during the 14th over.
Three wickets in an over from allrounder Jimmy Neesham gave NZ some hope, but Tilak Sharma was dropped by Finn Allen off Duffy on the first ball of next over and India hammered 24 from the last over of the innings bowled by Neesham.
For New Zealand to have any chance of chasing down their target, they needed the sizzling opening partnership of Finn Allen and Tim Seifert to emulate the performances of Sanju Samson (89 from 46 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (52 from 21).
Seifert took 20 from the second over but Allen - dropped in the first over - holed out to the left-arm spin of Axar Patel and further wickets fell regularly as India’s bowlers produced a far smarter display with the ball.
Seifert made 52 from 26 balls but when he was caught on the boundary, and faint hope of a miracle chase had vanished.
Black Caps batter Daryl Mitchell was furious when struck by a throw from bowler Arshdeep Singh and advanced down the wicket towards the left-arm paceman, but Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav came in to placate Mitchell, who shook hands with Singh at the end of the 11th over.
It encapsulated a frustrating final for New Zealand, who were left still seeking their first white-ball World Cup title after four appearances in the past 11 years.