India have made history by becoming the first team to win the T20 World Cup at home, defeating New Zealand by x runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Suryakumar Yadav’s team buried the ghosts of the past and raced to a record-breaking 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 the 50-over World Cup final at the same venue two years ago after an undefeated run in the tournament, leaving the 90,000 fans stunned and heartbroken.
There was no such pain for the home supporters this time as the defending champions reaped the rewards of Sanju Samson’s prolific three-match run and Abhishek Sharma’s return to form to post 255-5 in 20 overs.
But it was their ever-reliable star pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah who snuffed out any New Zealand hopes of a record run chase with astounding T20 bowling figures of 4-15 in his four overs.
Bumrah was named player of the final and Samson the player of the tournament.
New Zealand, who have now lost in both their T20 World Cup final appearances, were bowled out for 159.
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.
India posted the third-highest total in a T20 World Cup match when Samson scored 89 off 46 balls, Abhishek 52 off 21 and Ishan Kishan 54 off 25.
New Zealand’s run chase was stunted by the loss of three wickets in the first powerplay, leaving them 47-3 in six overs. Axar Patel dismissed the Kiwis’ dangerous opener Finn Allen for 9 runs and Glenn Phillips for 5.
Bumrah dismissed Rachin Ravindra for one run, but the wicket was only possible due to Kishan’s stunning diving catch in the deep.
Opener Tim Seifert attempted to push New Zealand’s scoring rate with regular boundaries against India’s spin bowlers, but his dismissal by Varun Chakravarthy in the ninth over dented his team’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 then a case of when and not how as India kept taking wickets to consolidate their chances of a record-breaking third T20 World Cup win.
They put their name on the trophy when Abhishek’s part-time left-arm spin bowling became the undoing of Jacob Duffy.
Earlier, when Santner won the toss and put India in to bat first, in-form opener Samson picked up where he left off in the semi-final by hitting a six off the fifth ball of his innings against opening bowler Phillips.
Top-ranked T20 batter Abhishek Sharma matched Samson’s boundary-hitting spree by hitting two fours in Jacob Duffy’s first over as India began piling on the runs on a batting-friendly track prepared especially for the final.
The opening batters took apart all of New Zealand’s pace bowlers, racing to a 50-run stand in the fourth over, and they scored 65 runs between overs four and six.
Abhishek, who had struggled to score runs in the first phase of the tournament, raced to an 18-ball fifty laced with three sixes and six fours as Santner and his men struggled to control the scoring rate.
The Kiwi captain then took matters into his own hands, coming on to bowl his left-arm spin to squeeze the boundaries.
Rachin Ravindra reaped the rewards of the break off his first ball as he had Abhishek caught behind for 52, but incoming batter Ishan Kishan did not allow the scoring rate to drop as he scored two boundaries in the over.
Samson reached his half-century off 33 balls and then took the attack to the returning Ferguson, hitting the pacer out of the attack with three sixes and a four.
India’s scoring rate kept climbing in the following overs as the hosts reached the 200-run mark in the 15th over and looked favourites to post a total close to 300 runs in the last five overs.
However, New Zealand struck back with Neesham’s triple-wicket over as Samson, Kishan and captain Suryakumar all fell with one run scored between them.
The Blackcaps were able to slow down the scoring rate for the next three overs, combined with the wicket of Hardik Pandya for 18 runs, before Shivam Dube closed India’s innings with a 24-run onslaught in the final over to post the highest total in a T20 World Cup final.