Kathmandu, March 9: India has won the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 title.
India defeated New Zealand in the final on Sunday to claim its second consecutive title and its third overall T20 World Cup victory.
India first won the tournament in 2007. Seventeen years later, it lifted the trophy again in the 2024 edition. By winning again this year, India successfully defended the title.
India now stands as the only team to win the title for a second straight time and for the third time overall. New Zealand reached the final again after five years but had to settle for the runner-up position. It also lost the 2021 final to Australia.
The final was played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where India won by 96 runs.
Chasing a massive target of 256 runs, New Zealand was all out for 159 in 19 overs.
Opener Tim Seifert scored the highest for New Zealand with 52 runs. Captain Mitchell Santner added 43 runs. The rest of the batting lineup failed to contribute much. Daryl Mitchell made 17 runs, while the remaining batters could not reach double figures.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets, giving away just 15 runs in four overs. Axar Patel claimed three wickets. Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, and Abhishek Sharma took one wicket each.
Earlier, after losing the toss and batting first, India posted a huge total of 255 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs.
Sanju Samson scored the highest with 89 runs off 46 balls, hitting five fours and eight sixes. Ishan Kishan made 54 runs from 25 balls, while Abhishek Sharma scored 52 runs off 21 balls before getting out. Shivam Dube added a quick 26 runs from eight balls.
For New Zealand, Jimmy Neesham took three wickets, while Matt Henry and Rachin Ravindra claimed one wicket each.
India’s only defeat in this World Cup came against South Africa in the Super 8 stage.
Sanju Samson was named Player of the Tournament. He played five matches and scored 321 runs, including three half-centuries, with strong performances in India’s last three key matches.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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