India: The World Champions

India won their third T20 World Cup title, defeating New Zealand by a huge 96 runs at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on Sunday (March 8, 2026). This is India’s second title on the row, having defeated South Africa in 2024.

Nothing went right for the Kiwis. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals; opener Seifert appeared menacing, scoring 52 off 26 balls, and couldn’t convert the start and skipper Mitchell Santner (43 off 35 balls) got too lonely at the middle as wickets kept tumbling at the other end, himself ultimately departing towards the end. The scorecard looked abysmal for the challengers otherwise. Along with Seifert and Santner, Daryl Mitchell scored 17 off 11 and all other batsmen got under 10 runs.

Bumrah and Axar were the pick of the bowlers for the champions. Bumrah’s miserly spell (4 overs, 15 runs and 4 wickets) kept the NZ side constantly under pressure.

On the batting front, although it seemed they should’ve scored much more, India ended their innings at 255/5. The top three batsmen were subliminal, scoring quick-fire half centuries. Openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma scored sizzling fifties and after Abhishek departed in the eighth over, Ishan Kishan, at the third slot, also brought up his half century in 23 deliveries. Shivam Dube smashed 26*(8) at the end to see India past the 250-run-mark.

New Zealand won the toss and sent India to bat first. This is the fourth finals for India in the T20 World Cup.