India Crush New Zealand by 96 Runs to Lift Third T20 World Cup
India win T20 World Cup 2026 by 96 runs, first team to win back-to-back titles
Ahmedabad: India won the T20 World Cup for a record third time with a 96-run victory over New Zealand on Sunday to the delight of more than 100,000 fans at the largest cricket ground in the world.
India scored an imposing 255-5 in the final after losing the toss and batting first at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Opener Sanju Samson hit a brilliant 46-ball 89 with eight sixes.
New Zealand never posed a threat in its chase and was all out for 159 in 19 overs. Tim Seifert scored a 26-ball 52.
India won the T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2024.
New Zealand was aiming for its first T20 World Cup triumph. It also finished as runner-up in the 2021 final, losing to Australia in Dubai.
India’s total was the third highest score in the history of the tournament but the defending champions could have been forgiven for leaving the field disappointed at not getting even more runs.
The tournament co-hosts had reached 203-1 in only 15 overs before James Neesham (3-46) took three key wickets in the 16th over.
Neesham dismissed Samson and also claimed the wickets of Ishan Kishan (54 in 25) and captain Suryakumar Yadav, for a golden duck.
Abhishek Sharma hit a 21-ball 52 and Shivam Dube needed only eight deliveries in his 26 not out.
Neesham conceded 24 runs in the last over of India's innings.
Live Updates
- 8 March 2026 10:48 PM IST
Champions of the world. Again. 2007. 2024. 2026
Tilak Varma caught Duffy at long-on off Abhishek Sharma and India became the first nation to defend a T20 World Cup title. The margin tells the story. 96 runs. India posted 255/5, the highest total in a T20 World Cup final, then bowled New Zealand out for 159 in 19 overs.
Samson 89(46), eight sixes, the innings of the tournament. Abhishek 52(21), fastest fifty in a T20 World Cup knockout. Kishan 54(25). Dube 26(8) to close the innings in devastating fashion. Three fifties. 18 sixes.
The Powerplay yielded 92/0, the joint-highest in T20 World Cup history. Neesham took 3/46 and briefly threatened a comeback, ripping three wickets in one over to drag India from 203/1 to 205/4.
- 8 March 2026 10:40 PM IST
Two wickets in two balls
Neesham bowled by a slower dipping yorker. Henry bowled next ball, through the shot before the ball arrived. Ferguson survived the hat-trick. Bumrah 3 overs, 13 runs, 3 wickets. Santner 38(30) alone. Required rate 31.71. Win probability 99.99%.
- 8 March 2026 10:37 PM IST
Bumrah 3/13, two wickets in two balls, NZ 145/8, 21 balls left
Neesham bowled by a slower dipping yorker. Henry bowled next ball, through the shot before the ball even arrived. Two wickets in two balls. Bumrah on a hat-trick. Ferguson survived it. Three overs from Bumrah have cost 13 runs for 3 wickets at an economy of 4.33. Santner stands alone on 38 off 30. Required rate 31.71. Win probability 99.99%. The party in Ahmedabad is about to begin.
- 8 March 2026 10:28 PM IST
Only formalities left
Neesham bowled for 8. The man who took 3 wickets in India's innings cleaned up by Bumrah. Seven down. Axar has 3/27. Santner 36 off 27 alone. Required rate 25.55. Win probability 99.93%. 86,824 waiting.
- 8 March 2026 10:03 PM IST
Mitchell refuses to go
Two sixes off Arshdeep, one muscled over deep midwicket, the other heaved to deep square where Kishan couldn't keep himself inside the rope. Then tempers flared. Arshdeep threw the ball at Mitchell after a toe-ended drive. Mitchell was furious. Suryakumar stepped in to apologise. Santner has 12 off 11 at the other end. The maths is impossible but Mitchell is making India work for every ball. Nine overs left.
- 8 March 2026 9:48 PM IST
The last hope is gone
Varun got him. Long hop, Seifert miscued the pull, Kishan ran to his right at deep midwicket and held on. Five sixes, a brilliant lone hand, but it ends at 52 off 26. Santner and Mitchell at the crease now. Required rate 15.77. This is over.
- 8 March 2026 9:45 PM IST
Seifert 51 off 24 but four down and the chase is all but over
Chapman dragged a Pandya length ball onto his stumps. Four wickets down. Seifert brought up a 23-ball fifty, smashing Varun for two sixes in one over, but he is running out of partners. The required rate has climbed past 15. Win probability 1.34%. Daryl Mitchell is next in. He needs to produce something extraordinary alongside Seifert or this final is done.
- 8 March 2026 9:30 PM IST
Axar 2/18, Phillips bowled for 5, NZ 47/3 in 4.5 overs chasing 256
Phillips pulled a four off Axar one ball before. Next delivery, castled. Stumps shattered. Axar now has 2/18 from 1.5 overs. Allen caught at long-on. Ravindra caught by Kishan off Bumrah first ball.
- 8 March 2026 9:29 PM IST
Bumrah first ball, Ravindra gone for 1, NZ 35/2 in 3.4 overs chasing 256
Allen gone and now Ravindra gone. Bumrah's first ball of the match, an offcutter on leg stump. Ravindra tried to work it leg side, was early into the shot, skied it towards deep square leg. Kishan sprinted in, dived forward, nearly spilled it, held on. Then leapt into Bumrah's arms. The stadium erupted. NZ have lost both Allen and Ravindra inside four overs. Phillips is the new man in. Seifert remains the lone threat on 23 off 11. New Zealand need 221 off 98 balls at 13.39 an over. Win probability down to 4.92%. India are strangling this chase.
- 8 March 2026 9:20 PM IST
Allen gone for 9, Axar strikes, NZ 31/1 in 2.4 overs chasing 256
Allen thumped a four down the ground off the previous ball. Next delivery, Axar dug it into the pitch outside off. Allen rocked back to pull but couldn't get under it. Flat hit straight to Tilak Varma at long-on. Allen threw his head back and walked off. The most destructive opener in this tournament gone for 9 off 7. The dropped catch by Dube in the first over feels irrelevant now. Seifert remains on 21 off 9. Rachin Ravindra walks in. NZ need 225 off 104 balls. Required rate 12.98. India's win probability back up to 91.34%.
New Zealand 31/1 in 2.4 overs, chasing 256.
