ICC T20 WC 2026 Final: India Beat New Zealand By 96 Runs To Retain Title After Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, And Bowlers Star

India scripted a performance of near perfection on the biggest stage as they retained their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title in style shocking a stunned New Zealand team by 96 runs on a night their batters and bowlers came to the party all at once, at the magnificent Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Sunday.

Chasing a herculean 256 for victory, New Zealand were reduced to 72/5 at one stage and the match was nearly done with Tim Seifert’s brilliant half-century providing them their only solace on a night that was nothing short of a nightmare for them as they were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.

Indian batters led by Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma batted like a dream to propel the defending champions to a monumental 255/5 and set New Zealand a daunting target of 256 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Sunday.

Samson continued his blazing form with another cracking 89 while Abhishek dusted off his poor form at the right time with a 52 off 21 balls to set the tone for India. Ishan Kishan’s 54 and Shivam Dube’s last over blitz ensured India had a massive total of 255/5 in 20 overs and something their bowlers would love to work with as they looked to defend their 2024 World title at the world’s biggest cricket stadium.

Earlier, Sanju Samson started the first over rather sedately but made up for it with a six and a single off the last ball as the Narendra Modi Stadium erupted in cheers.

Matt Henry had kept things tight for the first four balls and the nerves of a World Cup final was understandable from Samson’s point of view.

Glenn Phillips was brought in for the second over with the Indian batters rotating singles with a boundary hard to come by. Add to that New Zealand’s impeccable fielding skills with Daryl Mitchell saving a certain four off the last ball struck by Abhishek Sharma.

India were 12/0 after two overs and Jacob Duffy was introduced by Mitchell Santner in the third over. Abhishek smashed his first boundary over mid on and then another one straight over the bowler’s head as India were well and truly underway with their innings. Samson then completed the over with a booming elevated straight drive that field past Duffy straight to the boundary line as India reached 27/0 after three overs.

When Lockie Ferguson was brought on in the fourth over, Abhishek went absolutely ballistic with a four and a massive six coming off the first two balls as India made their intentions clear. Samson mistimed an on drive but he still managed to get a six as India went hammer and tongs after the Kiwi attack. Another four off the last ball ensured it was a nightmare for New Zealand.

A whopping 23 runs came off the Ferguson over as India got to 51/0 in four overs as they piled the pressure on New Zealand with two overs remaining in the powerplay.

Henry wasn’t spared either in the fifth over as both Abhishek and Samson took him to the cleaners with each blasting a six on the third and last ball of the over as India fetched 21 runs from the over. The pacer’s erratic line ensured four wides compounded NZ’s worries.

The sixth over seemed to get even worse for New Zealand with Duffy going for 4,6,4,2,4 as Abhishek slammed his half-century in just 18 balls with six fours and three sixes as India began the World Cup final with an absolute blinder of a powerplay.

New Zealand redeemed themselves a bit in the seventh over as Santner’s over costed just six runs and then they struck in the eighth over through Rachin Ravindra as Abhishek was out caught by Tim Seifert as India slipped to 98/1.

However, that did not stop the defending champions’ momentum one bit as new batter Ishan Kishan decided to take on Ravindra as 12 runs came off the eighth over.

India brought up their 100 in 7.2 overs.

Santner was keeping things tight for New Zealand with just five runs in the ninth over but Samson and Ishan went after James Neesham as 12 runs were scored in the 10th over with India at 127/1 at the half-way mark.

Kishan went after Santner in India’s 11th over slamming a six to put some pressure on him while Samson reached his fifty in 33 balls with a huge cheer from the Narendra Modi Stadium crowd.

After his half-century Samson went nuts with two consecutive sixes and Ishan scoring one of his own as Ferguson’s over went for 24 runs.

The 14th over, bowled by Ravindra, was absolute carnage as Samson slammed three consecutive sixes off the last three balls in three different directions as India got to 191/1 and he was on 88 off 44 with a strike rate of 200.

Kishan’s fifty came in the 15th over off 23 balls with four fours and as many sixes as he looked ominous from a New Zealand point of view.

India got to 203/1 in 15 overs and Samson was caught at long on off Neesham for exactly the same score as the World Cup semifinal: 89.

The momentum shift happened a wee bit in the 16th over as Samson and then Kishan, who was out for 54 in 25 balls, departed with over four overs to go.

When Suryakumar Yadav was out for a first ball duck in the same over with Ravindra plucking a magnificent catch at deep backward square leg , India had some thinking to do.

After a lull of two overs when no boundary came, Hardik Pandya unleashed himself to get a four in the 18th over as India found some momentum again.

Dube showed his monstrous self going berserk in the last over off Neesham with two sixes and three fours as 24 runs came off the 20th as India finished with 255/5.