New Zealand’s painful relationship with World Cup finals continued on Tuesday as they fell to India by 96 runs in the T20 World Cup decider, extending their extraordinary run of final defeats to four across formats since 2015. This latest loss was the most one-sided of them all, with the Black Caps contributing little to a match that India dominated from the very first ball to the very last. The agony of near-success has become a familiar story for New Zealand cricket.
India’s performance was everything a defending champion’s should be. Their openers tore into the New Zealand attack from the outset, reaching 92 for no loss in the powerplay — equalling the World Cup record. Abhishek Sharma’s 50 off 18 balls was the centrepiece of an opening six overs that set the match firmly on India’s terms and never relinquished that grip.
Sanju Samson was superb in the middle, compiling 89 off 46 before being caught at long-on. Ishan Kishan’s 54 off 25 kept the scoring rate stratospheric, and even a late cluster of wickets couldn’t prevent India from reaching the imposing total of 255. Three of the four highest team totals at this World Cup have been posted by India, a staggering fact that underlines their batting ruthlessness.
Bumrah then took three wickets with the ball, dismantling New Zealand’s chase with slow yorkers that the batters simply couldn’t negotiate. Finn Allen, so explosive in the semi-final, made only nine. Tim Seifert’s half-century was the only innings of real note in a sorry New Zealand total of 159.
India, by contrast, have given their fans everything they could have wished for and more. Back-to-back champions, winners at home, and the first team to defend this title. The era of Indian T20 dominance shows no sign of ending.
