Samson’s 89, Bumrah’s 4/15 script a 96-run victory over NZ as they defend the T20 World Cup to win it a third time
Ahmedabad: Suryakumar Yadav’s team, easily India’s greatest T20 outfit ever, created history on Sunday with an unprecedented third World Cup win, clinically demolishing a lacklustre New Zealand by 96 runs with an awe-inspiring batting performance and laser-precise bowling.
Suryakumar’s men became the first men’s international team to win successive World T20 titles and also the first to claim the trophy on home turf.
Sanju Samson (89 off 46 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (52 off 21 balls) added 92 in Powerplay and 98 for the opening stand after a tactical blunder by Black Caps skipper Mitchell Santner led to a record score of 255 for 5.
Having misread the pitch, Santner brought medium pacer Jacob Duffy dropping the useful off-spinner Cole McConchie, which proved to be decisive in the final outcome.
In-front of 86,000 fans, the chase was out of question as New Zealand huffed and puffed its way to 159 all out as Suryakumar, the man from Mumbai’s Chembur, etched his name alongside Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in the record books.
“Champions! This remarkable triumph reflects exceptional skills, determination and teamwork. They have shown outstanding grit through the tournament. This victory has filled every Indian heart with pride and joy. Well done, Team India!” posted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X within minutes of the triumph.
No credit will be enough for mostly under-fire Gautam Gambhir, who became the first coach to guide the team to two T20 World titles.
Following the demolition act with the bat, Jasprit Bumrah’s artistry was good enough to dash any little hopes that New Zealand players might just have harboured at the back of their minds.
Bumrah was unreal as ever with figures of 4-0-15-4, adding to the mythical story of his career which will become folklore in years to come.
As far-fetched as it might sound, the current Indian T20 team under Gambhir’s coaching has had the aura of USA’s ‘Dream Team’ filled with the biggest of NBA stars like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that won the 1992 Barcelona Olympics gold medal.
Just like that team, this Indian T20 outfit, filled with IPL’s richest stars, has an air of invincibility around it. The side never seemed like losing the tournament in which it was the runaway favourite even before a ball had been bowled.
If the 2007 T20 World Cup victory was a watershed moment for Indian cricket, which gave birth to a behemoth like the IPL, the 2024 T20 World Cup win was a soothing balm to the heartbreak of the 2023 ODI World Cup final loss.
The 2026 title triumph is an assertion that in talent, India are light years ahead of other teams. This edition was never about a perfect campaign but always about finding an individual who would win it for the team.
Abhishek had a very poor tournament but redeemed himself in the final. Samson’s career was on the line before he played the most defining innings of his career.
The ‘crazy diamond’ called Bumrah bowled those block-hole deliveries whenever the team asked and Axar Patel took those crazy catches which became a game-changer.
Ishan Kishan was the sheet anchor in every game and the skipper was the binding glue with Gambhir being the back-room brain that the team needed. The team bond was evident and the players had each other’s backs when one of the mates was sinking.
Both Suryakumar and Gambhir can claim credit for taking Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s champion team to the next level.
When India batted, Samson scarred an awestruck New Zealand in the company of an equally destructive Abhishek, who saved his best for the last in India’s record-breaking total.
And if that wasn’t enough Ishan Kishan (54 off 25 balls) proved that even three can tango together as India’s top three, in a superlative display, stunned New Zealand.
Abhishek took full advantage of Mitchell Santner’s tactical harakiri with a 21-ball-52 but Samson’s muscular effort — a dazzling 89 off 46 balls, which was a union of beastly power and silken grace –, will be remembered for the times to come.
There were eight sixes — a few over long-on, a couple over square leg, down the ground, and over long-off.
Samson made Rachin Ravindra’s left-arm spin, Lockie Ferguson (0/48 in 2 overs) and Matt Henry’s (0/49 in 4 overs) medium pace bowling look pedestrian. It was a massacre of a good bowling attack.
After match-winning efforts against the West Indies and England, Kerala’s favourite son finally silenced the Doubting Thomases, who questioned his credentials over the past decade.
After a series of flop shows and his place in the side being debated from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Abhishek finally came good with liberal help from New Zealand pacers, who handed the advantage to the southpaw on a platter.
An 18-ball-50 with his signature straight sixes, and familiar bat swing, the Punjab man enjoyed the rub of the green under the floodlit Ahmedabad skyline.
Jacob Duffy’s (0/42 in 3 overs) friendly medium pace became cannon fodder for Abhishek as he smashed five of his half a dozen boundaries off him.
In case of Matt Henry (1/49 in four overs), once Samson smacked him for a six slightly wide off long-on, there was no looking back. With as many as 92 runs in the powerplay, India had seized the decisive advantage.
After Rachin Ravindra (1/32 in 2 overs) removed Abhishek after a 98-run opening stand off 43 balls, Kishan kept the tempo with four sixes and as many boundaries.
