India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday to become the first team to retain the men’s Twenty20 World Cup title.
Put into bat, India posted a commanding total of 255-5 and restricted their opponents to 159 in 19 overs.
Led by Sanju Samson’s 46-ball 89 and equally destructive half-centuries from Abhishek Shamra (52 off 21 balls) and Ishan Kishan (54 off 25 balls), defending champions India put on a powerful batting show to post a massive 255 for five.
In reply, New Zealand lost all their top batters by the time the innings entered the halfway stage.
Opener Tim Seifert smashed 52 off 26 balls, but the rest of the top-order disappointed in the stiff chase.
Axar Patel dismissed the dangerous Finn Allen (9) and Glenn Phillips (5) while Jasprit Bumrah removed Rachin Ravindra (1) in the powerplay. Then, Hardik Pandya and Varun Varun Chakravarthy picked up a wicket each, while Axar returned to send back Daryl Mitchell (17).
Earlier, New Zealand bowlers were all at sea after inviting India to bat in the winners-take-all contest with Samson and Abhishek going berserk from the word go, lashing the ground with sixes and fours.
They raised a quick-fire 98-run stand in just 7.1 overs to provide a great platform, and Kishan carried forward the good work with his brisk knock.
Scoreboard at Close of Play of Final Between India and New Zealand on Sunday at Ahmedabad, India
India Win by 96 Runs
India – 1st Innings
– Sanju Samson c (Sub) b James Neesham 89
– Abhishek Sharma c Tim Seifert b Rachin Ravindra 52
– Ishan Kishan c Mark Chapman b James Neesham 54
– Hardik Pandya c Mitchell Santner b Matt Henry 18
– Suryakumar Yadav c Rachin Ravindra b James Neesham 0
– Tilak Varma Not Out 8
– Shivam Dube Not Out 26
– Extras 0b 0lb 0nb 0pen 8w 8
– Total (20.0 overs) 255-5
Fall of Wickets: 1-98 (Sharma), 2-203 (Samson), 3-204 (Kishan), 4-204 (Yadav), 5-226 (Pandya)
Did Not Bat: Patel, Vinod, Bumrah, Singh
Bowling
| Bowler | Ov | Md | Rn | Wk | Econ | Ex |
|———————|—-|—-|—-|—-|——-|—-|
| Matt Henry | 4 | 0 | 49 | 1 | 12.25 | 4w |
| Glenn Phillips | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Jacob Duffy | 3 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 14.00 | 1w |
| Lockie Ferguson | 2 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 24.00 | 3w |
| Mitchell Santner | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Rachin Ravindra | 2 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 16.00 | |
| James Neesham | 4 | 0 | 46 | 3 | 11.50 | |
—
New Zealand – 1st Innings
– Tim Seifert c Ishan Kishan b Varun Chakaravarthy 52
– Finn Allen c Tilak Varma b Axar Patel 9
– Rachin Ravindra c Ishan Kishan b Jasprit Bumrah 1
– Glenn Phillips b Axar Patel 5
– Mark Chapman b Hardik Pandya 3
– Daryl Mitchell c Ishan Kishan b Axar Patel 17
– Mitchell Santner b Jasprit Bumrah 43
– James Neesham b Jasprit Bumrah 8
– Matt Henry b Jasprit Bumrah 0
– Lockie Ferguson Not Out 6
– Jacob Duffy c Tilak Varma b Abhishek Sharma 3
– Extras 4b 1lb 0nb 0pen 7w 12
– Total (19.0 overs) 159 all out
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), 10-159 (Duffy)
Bowling
| Bowler | Ov | Md | Rn | Wk | Econ | Ex |
|———————|—-|—-|—-|—-|——-|—-|
| Arshdeep Singh | 4 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 8.00 | 5w |
| Hardik Pandya | 4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 9.00 | 1w |
| Axar Patel | 3 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 9.00 | |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 4 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 3.75 | 1w |
| Varun Chakaravarthy | 3 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 13.00 | |
| Abhishek Sharma | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5.00 | |
Published on March 8, 2026
