Ahmedabad, March 8 — India completed a dominant campaign to retain the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, beating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday and becoming the first side to win back-to-back T20 World Cups, claim three global crowns and do so on home soil in front of 86,824 fans.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav, who has not lost a series since taking charge in July 2024, will lift the trophy and becomes the fourth Indian skipper to lead the men’s team to a World Cup title, underscoring India’s supremacy in the shortest format.
The victory also ended two lingering hoodoos: India had never beaten New Zealand in a Men’s T20 World Cup match before, and they finally won at the Ahmedabad venue after suffering two high-profile white-ball defeats there — the 2023 ODI World Cup final loss to Australia and a Super Eights defeat to South Africa earlier in this tournament.
Sanju Samson powered India’s innings with a blistering 89 off 46 balls, including five fours and eight sixes, as India posted 255/5 — the tournament’s second-highest total and the most posted by a team in the World Cup. Samson put on an opening stand of 98 with Abhishek Sharma, who smashed 52 off 21 balls, while Ishan Kishan added 54 off 25 to keep the scoreboard ticking. James Neesham briefly stemmed the flow with three wickets in a single over before Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 26 off eight balls pushed India past 250.
New Zealand’s chase never gained traction after Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel ripped through the top order, reducing the visitors to 52/3 inside the powerplay and effectively ending any realistic chance of a record chase. New Zealand were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19 overs, with Tim Seifert top-scoring with 52 and Mitchell Santner contributing 43.
Brief scores: India 255/5 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 89, Ishan Kishan 54; James Neesham 3-46, Rachin Ravindra 1-32) beat New Zealand 159 all out in 19 overs (Tim Seifert 52, Mitchell Santner 43; Jasprit Bumrah 4-15, Axar Patel 3-27) by 96 runs. –IANS
Original Source: https://tripurachronicle.in/national-news/t20-wc-india-make-history-by-clinching-third-title-after-beating-new-zealand-by-96-runs/
Category: National News,Sports News,Top News
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Publish Date: 2026-03-08 23:00:00
