AHMEDABAD: India in an impressive all-round performance won a record third T20 World Cup title on Sunday and became the first team to defend their crown with a 96-run thumping of New Zealand in a lop-sided final in Ahmedabad.

Suryakumar Yadav’s India were also the first team to lift the trophy on home soil as over 86,000 fans celebrated at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

England (2010 and 2022) and the West Indies (2012 and 2016) have won two titles each.

India beat both those teams en route to the title, including a clutch victory over the West Indies in their final Super Eig­hts match when defeat would have seen them eliminated.

“We never panicked. Kept our heads above the water. Teams that do that win the tournament and I am very happy we did it,” said Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah who was again at his mesmerising best, delivering a succession of brilliant slower-ball yorkers to finish with exceptional figures of 4-15 and earn player-of the-final award.

“This feels extremely special because I’ve played one final in my home venue but couldn’t win that one, but today I won. I knew the wicket was a flat one so had to use all my experience.”

Wicket-keeper/batter Sanju Samson’s blistering 89 off 46 balls guided the co-hosts to 255-5 and Bumrah starred as New Zealand were bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.

“Feels like a dream. Very happy, out of words, out of emotions. I am very grateful for everyone who supported me,” said Samson, who was out of the team earlier in the tournament before reeling off three consecutive scores of 89 or better when it mattered most.

‘FEELS LIKE A DREAM’

Part-time spinner Abhishek Sharma claimed the final wicket of Jacob Duffy, securing a dominant victory for the hosts.

“This itself is very big for me, I want to enjoy it right now and then after a few days will figure out what more to do.”

Spinner Axar Patel struck two early blows, including the dangerous Finn Allen for nine, with his left-arm spin.

Opener Tim Seifert hit 52 off 26 balls but his departure in the ninth over off struggling spinner Varun Chakravarthy effectively ended the Black Caps’ slim hopes.

Wickets kept tumbling and Bumrah struck with successive deliveries to bring up a hat-trick ball which was just about negotiated by Lockie Ferguson.

Skipper Mitchell Santner hit 43 but was never going to be able to prevent New Zealand from slipping to their second T20 World Cup final loss after they suffered an eight-wicket loss to Australia at Dubai in 2021.

India exorcised the ghosts of the past at the same venue from when they were shocked by the Pat Cummins-led Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final.

Commenting on the victory, Indian batter Tilak Varma said, “To be honest, we have prepared since [the] last one and a half years. We have prepared to bat at any position for the team.”

Earlier, the in-form Samson, who hit 97 not out and 89 in his previous two innings to keep India in the tournament, cracked five fours and eight sixes to thrill the raucous home crowd, which included former World Cup-winning captains Rohit Sharma and M.S. Dhoni.

Samson’s opening stand of 98 with Abhishek, who plundered 52 off 21 balls, laid the platform for India to go on and score more than 250 for a second straight match, after their seven-run semi-final win over England in Mumbai, and for the third time in the tournament.

Abhishek and Samson waited two overs before they launched a batting blitz to flay New Zealand’s attack to all parts of the ground during the powerplay.

Rachin Ravindra finally broke the partnership, having Abhishek caught behind off a wide delivery.

Samson was joined by Ishan Kishan, who hammered 54 off 25 balls with four fours and as many sixes.

Samson reached his third successive fifty and changed gears to hit Ravindra for three straight sixes.

Jimmy Neesham pulled things back for New Zealand with three wickets in one over to give them hope of keeping India to a gettable total.

He removed Samson, Kishan and Suryakumar for a duck — the last two on successive balls.But Shivam Dube finished with a flourish, blasting an unbeaten 26 off eight balls as he hit Neesham for three fours and two sixes in the 20th over, leaving New Zealand with far too much to do.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA:

S. Samson c (sub) b Neesham 89

A. Sharma c Seifert b Ravindra 52

I. Kishan c Chapman b Neesham 54

H. Pandya c Santner b Henry 18

S. Yadav c Ravindra b Neesham 0

T. Varma not out 8

S. Dube not out 26

EXTRAS (W-8) 8

TOTAL (for five wickets, 20 overs) 255

DID NOT BAT: A. Patel, A. Singh, V. Chakravarthy, J. Bumrah

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-98 (Sharma), 2-203 (Samson), 3-204 (Kishan), 4-204 (Yadav), 5-226 (Pandya)

BOWLING: Henry 4-0-49-1 (4w), Phillips 1-0-5-0, Duffy 3-0-42-0 (1w), Ferguson 2-0-48-0 (3w), Santner 4-0-33-0, Ravindra 2-0-32-1, Neesham 4-0-46-3

NEW ZEALAND:

T. Seifert c Kishan b Varun 52

F. Allen c Varma b Patel 9

R. Ravindra c Kishan b Bumrah 1

G. Phillips b Patel 5

M. Chapman b Pandya 3

D. Mitchell c Kishan b Patel 17

M. Santner b Bumrah 43

J. Neesham b Bumrah 8

M. Henry b Bumrah 0

L. Ferguson not out 6

J. Duffy c Varma b Sharma 3

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, W-7) 12

TOTAL (all out, 19 overs) 159

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)

BOWLING: Singh 4-0-32-0 (5w), Pandya 4-0-36-1 (1w), Patel 3-0-27-3, Bumrah 4-0-15-4 (1w), Varun 3-0-39-1, Sharma 1-0-5-1

RESULT: India won by 96 runs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jasprit Bumrah

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2026