India became the first team to win the T20 World Cup at home by defeating New Zealand by x runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Suryakumar Yadav’s side buried the ghosts of the past and ran away to a record third T20 World Cup title in front of a sell-out crowd at the world’s largest cricket stadium on Sunday.
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Rohit Sharma’s India lost in the 50-over World Cup final at the same ground two years ago after an unbeaten run in the tournament, leaving 90,000 fans stunned and heartbroken.
There was no such pain for the home supporters this time as the defending champions posted 255-5 in 20 overs thanks to Sanju Samson’s brilliant three-match run and Abhishek Sharma’s return to form.
But their ever-reliable star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah snuffed out any New Zealand hopes of a record run chase with T20 bowling figures of 4-15 in his four overs.
Bumrah was adjudged player of the final and Samson was adjudged player of the tournament.
New Zealand, who have lost both the T20 World Cup finals, were bowled out for 159 runs.
Vice-captain Axar Patel took three wickets for 27 runs in his three overs as India became the first team to successfully defend the trophy.
Samson scored 89 off 46 balls, Abhishek 52 off 21 balls and Ishan Kishan 54 off 25 balls for India to post the third highest total in a T20 World Cup match.
New Zealand’s run chase was stunted by the loss of three wickets in the first powerplay, conceding 47-3 in six overs. Axar Patel dismissed Kiwis’ dangerous opening batsman Finn Allen for 9 runs and Glenn Phillips for 5 runs.
Bumrah dismissed Rachin Ravindra for one run, but Kishan’s brilliant diving catch in the deep made the wicket possible.
Opener Tim Seifert tried to push New Zealand’s scoring rate with regular boundaries against India’s spin bowlers, but Varun Chakraborty’s dismissal in the ninth over dented his side’s chances of a successful run chase.
Captain Mitchell Santner formed a 52-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell, but the latter fell to Patel in the 13th over for New Zealand’s sixth wicket.
It was a case of when and not how, as India kept picking up wickets to consolidate their chances of a record third T20 World Cup win.
He added his name to the trophy when Abhishek’s part-time left-arm spin bowling dismissed Jacob Duffy.
Earlier, opening bowler Samson picked up where he left off in the semi-final with a six off the fifth ball of his innings against opening bowler Phillips when Santner won the toss and put India in to bat.
Top-ranked T20 batsman Abhishek Sharma matched Samson’s boundary-hitting spree by hitting two boundaries off Jacob Duffy in the first over as India began to pile on the runs on a batting-friendly track specially prepared for the final.
The opening batsmen picked apart all of New Zealand’s fast bowlers, racing to a 50-run stand in the fourth over and they scored 65 runs between overs four and six.
Abhishek, who struggled to score runs in the first phase of the tournament, scored a half-century off 18 balls with three sixes and six fours as Santner and his men struggled to control the scoring rate.
The Kiwis skipper then took matters into his own hands, coming to bowl his left-arm spin to squeeze boundaries.
Rachin Ravindra reaped the rewards of his first-ball break as he was chased down by Abhishek’s 52, but incoming batsman Ishan Kishan did not allow the scoring rate to drop as he hit two boundaries in the over.
Samson reached his half-century off 33 balls and then took the attack to the returning Ferguson, hitting the pacers with three sixes and a boundary.
India’s scoring rate continued to rise in the following overs as the hosts reached the 200-run mark in the 15th over and looked favorites to score a total of 300 runs in the last five overs.
However, New Zealand bounced back with Neesham’s triple-wicket as Samson, Kishan and skipper Suryakumar fell short of one run.
The Blackcaps were able to slow down the scoring rate in the next three overs, scoring 18 with the wicket of Hardik Pandya, before Shivam Dubey sealed India’s innings with a 24-run attack in the final over to record the highest total in a T20 World Cup final.
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