India (255/5) steamroll New Zealand (159) to lift T20 World Cup 2026 trophy in Ahmedabad

[jnaveen1980]

I can agree on this point- a big reason both England & NZ chose to chase was because they both knew they had weak bowling attacks to defend any total against Indian batting. Only SA had the bowling attack to challenge India.

But then again, SA bowling inexplicably lost their way against NZ openers, how can anybody make sense of that?

SA bowling is one-dimensional. Hardly any spin option. We had Kishan gifting wicket to Markram. ABhishek was in the middle of a horrible bad patch. Samson beign a right hander would have done better. That was a chasable total.

 

[sweep_shot]

SA bowling is one-dimensional. Hardly any spin option. We had Kishan gifting wicket to Markram. ABhishek was in the middle of a horrible bad patch. Samson beign a right hander would have done better. That was a chasable total.

SA's bowling is better than India's.

 

[TheRock]

This WT20 lasted almost a couple of months. Unfortunately, I had to keep changing my Nationality on a daily basis, depending on who the Ind's opponent is on a particular day. A painful experience indeed. Though the WT20 is finally over, I have forgotten about my original Nationality. What a shame

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Must be since 2007. Was any Mallu there in 83?

There was, Sunil Valson in the squad...but i doubt if he played any game in the whole tournament

 

[chakdeindian]

India is obviously better team than south africa my point is south africa would have challenged them better.. defeat of 70-80 runs cant merely be described on selection issue.. south africa had better bowling plans compared to england and new zealand.

That we cannot say..If you see overall T20 wc records, India has never defeated NZ and many worldcups, NZ had given multiple heartbreaks to India..SA were looking stronger but completely choked to NZ. England were performing poorly against associate nations in the qualifiers, however gave peak performance against India..So, the quantum of a teams performance depends on that day and we cannot justify say SA would have performed better..

 

[uppercut]

@Bhaag Viru Bhaag @jamie smith fan
@
@
and basically those Indians of your ilk who lives in India but will never support India cricketing or otherwise,
Rest assured your country men are thinking of you in your hour of 'big learn' as your country got win.

Long may you continue taking learn and india continue to win and the big positive upshot of getting all this lurn is you have a new entry in your vocab : 'Lurnday' in between Saturday and Monday

mek that .... Burn and lurn

@Mesozoic

 

[uppercut]

But but but Zimbushek saaar...

@BouncerGuy

View attachment 162585

Should be Green tears buddy

 

[globetrotter]

SA's bowling is better than India's.

Jali na..... Barot jali

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Theek hai
Btw i am in srinagar and know which team was supported by 95% people here.

So's my cousin who lives in Anantnag but was in Srinagar for the match and he has said Lal chowk, Srinagar which previously used to see the vile flag of the ISIS had fantastic celebrations and also in the night after the match vs pak 2 weeks ago.

Lastly, j&K won the ranji trophy which means our administration is doing something fantastically right to ensure that a place that was under perma curfew and negativity is now flowering and doing well, has brought in a mahoul conducive to progress and success which leads to happiness. End of the day the civilizational DNA runs through and shines bright, the same as in any part of India how much ever it was suppressed.

The 95% u mentioned is 95% of the people you meet, not necessarily 95% of the population of the state, as the saying goes birds of a feather flock together.

Cheers Champ!

 

[globetrotter]

Jali na..... Barot jali

Bahot

 

[JaDed]

This is gonna be Indias last dominating performance in world cups for some time.
They are going to be on a downfall soon and reach bd/sl level.

Don’t be that hurt buddy, Pakistan domestic cup is starting soon , you have much to cheer, pick your side East vs West.

 

[Ball Blazer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030711246769782936

 

[Ball Blazer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030706284979458348

 

[kron]

Sweepshot needs to do a ayudha pujai

@jnaveen1980
@Vikram1989

We need to do it for him

 

[Hitman]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030706284979458348

He himself has a career of 114.74 in T20 cricket.​

 

[harshjoshi87]

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[Ball Blazer]

Loving the Pakistani tears on social media. Look at these guys crying here

“will say 2-3 things about India. First, their policy won. Then their system won. Most importantly, their merit won. It was also that the money would not have been spent in the right place," Akhtar said on Tapmad.

"And the way they are spending money on their systems, on grounds, on policies. Look at their labs, their biomechanical labs. Look at their training centers, their machines. Look at their injection of the money. And in the end, how beautifully they respect their elders. How beautifully they have called their captains. Today they are standing. And today they are celebrating. Today as India, as a unit, they are celebrating," he added

Hasn't Gautam Gambhir proved that he can win the tournament with two players? India were lacking one, and he brought in Sanju Samson. Despite all the odds, he didn't drop one and took a huge risk on the basis of merit, and that's Sanju Samson,“

Today, their merit and policy won. And they have depicted that 'we think in the right way. We give the right chance to the right person. We try to play the right player who can win the tournament for us,'" he added.

 

[Ball Blazer]

There was controversy early in New Zealand’s run chase when Shivam Dube dropped Allen in the first over.

Allen’s miss-hit popped up to Dube at mid-off but the fielder badly misjudged the flight of the ball and dropped the catch.

Former New Zealand strike bowler Simon Doull said on TV commentary the innings break lightshow would have impacted Dube’s ability to judge the catch.

“It’s a catch he’ll be disappointed to drop, but a little point on that: in the half-time interval, the Indian players all came out onto the field to get ready and do some catching,” he said.

“They started to do some catching for maybe about 30 seconds and the lights went off and we had some silly show go on. They couldn’t continue to field. They couldn’t practice their catching,” Doull said.

“It is an ICC men’s World Cup final, and they couldn’t go through their process in between the innings to practice their catching. By the time the lights came back on they were back in the changing room getting ready to come back out onto the field. I saw two catches go up, that was it.

“I’m not making an excuse for him, but they didn’t have the opportunity to get that done in between innings, which you would normally get done.”

Cricket commentator Andrew McKenna also posted on X: “Well said Simon Doull, ridiculous that the players couldn’t do proper fielding drills between innings because the lights were switched off for a laser show

https://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/ridiculous-controversy-rocks-t20-world-cup-final/news-story/5875bdd3cb51324459155dc79dd7c6da

 

[Devadwal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030694567368933530

 

[Devadwal]

Mark butcher smashing all the experts who are critically the pitch. Beautiful

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030681839975776264

 

[shah9425]

They haven't won an ODI WC since 2011.

They have been in last 4 at least
They are consistent

 

[jamie smith fan]

So's my cousin who lives in Anantnag but was in Srinagar for the match and he has said Lal chowk, Srinagar which previously used to see the vile flag of the ISIS had fantastic celebrations and also in the night after the match vs pak 2 weeks ago.

Lastly, j&K won the ranji trophy which means our administration is doing something fantastically right to ensure that a place that was under perma curfew and negativity is now flowering and doing well, has brought in a mahoul conducive to progress and success which leads to happiness. End of the day the civilizational DNA runs through and shines bright, the same as in any part of India how much ever it was suppressed.

The 95% u mentioned is 95% of the people you meet, not necessarily 95% of the population of the state, as the saying goes birds of a feather flock together.

Cheers Champ!

Its ok to be in delusion.

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Its ok to be in delusion.

likewise

 

[JaDed]

Its ok to be in delusion.

Glad you got a reality check.. try not to lose it though.

 

[chakdeindian]

Happy to hardly see any comments like "match fixed hai", "Jay shah ki script", "Pitch got changed",..etc like comments from Pak people..Good to see people acknowledging and appreciating Indian performances from across the border..

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Apart from Santner, Seifert. The rest were embarrassing. Kudos to India for the feat. But what a contrast we witnessed yesterday. Two teams from Oceania against same opponent in a tournament final in the same stadium. One humbled the host team, while the other get humbled by the hosts. Certainly for teams like NZ and SA, their biggest enemy is their own mental midgety.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

@Bhaag Viru Bhaag @Devadwal do you know why India won the match yesterday.

 

[Devadwal]

@The Bald Eagle did you enjoy the ABHI- SHEK of NZ?

 

[The Bald Eagle]

@The Bald Eagle did you enjoy the ABHI- SHEK of NZ?

His knock was overdue...Sanju knock was unexpected for me, he really is your best batter at the moment.

Post in thread 'ICC T20 World Cup 2026: India vs New Zealand | Final | Ahmedabad | March 08 | Pre-Match Discussion'

Saturday at 5:42 PM

As per law of averages, he is going to blast big tomorrow not Sanju.

• The Bald Eagle

• 

 

[Devadwal]

His knock was overdue...Sanju knock was unexpected for me, he really is your best batter at the moment.

Post in thread 'ICC T20 World Cup 2026: India vs New Zealand | Final | Ahmedabad | March 08 | Pre-Match Discussion'

Saturday at 5:42 PM

As per law of averages, he is going to blast big tomorrow not Sanju.

• The Bald Eagle

• 

This Indian team is full of match-winning players, that's why I trusted Abhi to score runs at crucial moments and he chose the biggest night to perform under pressure.

WE ARE UNDISPUTED CHAMPION OF T20 CRICKET . #KoiNahiHaiTakkarMein

 

[jamie smith fan]

Glad you got a reality check.. try not to lose it though.

I already know what reality is so idc what u sanghis say about that.

 

[Red-Indian]

Probably not the thread for this but I suppose we have to start looking ahead. We're not going to get the World Test Championship any time soon - what with the team in this stage of transition and with a poor Test coach but I would love to see India complete their LOI ICC cabinet with the ODI World Cup.

Long way away though - almost a year and a half and so much to think about.

Can we really afford to keep some of these T20 talents out of the ODI team?

A left hander (Abhishek? Ishan? Jaiswal?) in place of Rohit?
Another left hander in the middle order (Tilak? Ishan?) in place of Kohli?
Who's the spin allrounder - Jadeja? Axar? Sundar?
Who's the wicketkeeper - Rahul? Samson? Ishan?
Will Hardik make it healthwise as the third seamer and who's the backup - Rana? Reddy?

Everything seems up in the air except perhaps Gill, Iyer, Bumrah and Siraj

 

[nish_mate]

Probably not the thread for this but I suppose we have to start looking ahead. We're not going to get the World Test Championship any time soon - what with the team in this stage of transition and with a poor Test coach but I would love to see India complete their LOI ICC cabinet with the ODI World Cup.

Long way away though - almost a year and a half and so much to think about.

Can we really afford to keep some of these T20 talents out of the ODI team?

A left hander (Abhishek? Ishan? Jaiswal?) in place of Rohit?
Another left hander in the middle order (Tilak? Ishan?) in place of Kohli?
Who's the spin allrounder - Jadeja? Axar? Sundar?
Who's the wicketkeeper - Rahul? Samson? Ishan?
Will Hardik make it healthwise as the third seamer and who's the backup - Rana? Reddy?

Everything seems up in the air except perhaps Gill, Iyer, Bumrah and Siraj

No Kuldeep?

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

@Bhaag Viru Bhaag @Devadwal do you know why India won the match yesterday.

View attachment 162627

 

[Red-Indian]

No Kuldeep?

Yes forgot about him

2 Openers - Gill for certain, other slot - Jaiswal/Abhishek/Samson/Rohit
3 Middle Batters - Iyer for certain, 1 Wicketkeeper - Rahul/Ishan/Samson, 1 Floater - Kohli/Tilak
3 Allrounders - Seam - Pandya/Rana/Reddy, Spin - Jadeja/Axar/Sundar
1 Spinner - Kuldeep
2 Seamers - Bumrah, Siraj with Arshdeep, Prasidh as backup

Sound about right?

 

[nish_mate]

Yes forgot about him

2 Openers - Gill for certain, other slot - Jaiswal/Abhishek/Samson/Rohit
3 Middle Batters - Iyer for certain, 1 Wicketkeeper - Rahul/Ishan/Samson, 1 Floater - Kohli/Tilak
3 Allrounders - Seam - Pandya/Rana/Reddy, Spin - Jadeja/Axar/Sundar
1 Spinner - Kuldeep
2 Seamers - Bumrah, Siraj with Arshdeep, Prasidh as backup

Sound about right?

Sounds about right, then no place for Pant, hes out of the picture then? Given its in SA will need 3 seamers.I would keep Kuldeep as the main spinner. Worry is the seam attack, without Bumrah looks a lot shaky.

 

[JaDed]

I already know what reality is so idc what u sanghis say about that.

Ofcourse , just like you said India will go down to SL BD level

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

An absolute travesty of a choke by NZ. These losers spoil all knockouts. India got lucky without having to face SA or Aus. Luckiest run to an ICC tournament in my lifetime but congrats I guess.

 

[Josh]

An absolute travesty of a choke by NZ. These losers spoil all knockouts. India got lucky without having to face SA or Aus. Luckiest run to an ICC tournament in my lifetime but congrats I guess.

If only Rizwan was the captain of Pakistan, the final would have been in Srilanka and Pakistan would have smashed this NZ team at RPS Premdasa

 

[YousafTheBeast]

An absolute travesty of a choke by NZ. These losers spoil all knockouts. India got lucky without having to face SA or Aus. Luckiest run to an ICC tournament in my lifetime but congrats I guess.

They were also lucky to play against a depleted Pakistan team without their main man Rizwan.

 

[Red-Indian]

Sounds about right, then no place for Pant, hes out of the picture then? Given its in SA will need 3 seamers.I would keep Kuldeep as the main spinner. Worry is the seam attack, without Bumrah looks a lot shaky.

Yeah can't see Pant breaking in. Rahul is the incumbent and has done nothing wrong to lose his place to be honest but Samson & Ishan are in redhot form with aggression dialed up and it seems a pity to waste it.

Yeah it's a pity our spin bowling allrounders (Sundar/Axar/Jadeja) are better at bowling than our seam bowling ones.

Maybe we sacrifice Kuldeep and play two out of Axar, Sundar & Jadeja. That way we can have 3 full seamers plus Hardik. Seems a pity though. Kuldeep is such a deadly wicket-taker in the middle overs.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

They were also lucky to play against a depleted Pakistan team without their main man Rizwan.

Riz couldn't have done worse than Farhan with his beautiful duck.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Riz couldn't have done worse than Farhan with his beautiful duck.

31 off 44 vs India at New York.

Had he scored even at a run a ball, we would’ve won.

 

[emranabbas]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030848804363395145

 

[nish_mate]

Yeah can't see Pant breaking in. Rahul is the incumbent and has done nothing wrong to lose his place to be honest but Samson & Ishan are in redhot form with aggression dialed up and it seems a pity to waste it.

Yeah it's a pity our spin bowling allrounders (Sundar/Axar/Jadeja) are better at bowling than our seam bowling ones.

Maybe we sacrifice Kuldeep and play two out of Axar, Sundar & Jadeja. That way we can have 3 full seamers plus Hardik. Seems a pity though. Kuldeep is such a deadly wicket-taker in the middle overs.

Need a wicket taking option rather than a containing option on the SA grounds

 

[Red-Indian]

Need a wicket taking option rather than a containing option on the SA grounds

I think we'll have to settle on
- 2 seamers (Bumrah, Siraj) + 2 seam bowling allrounders (Hardik + 1 of Reddy, Dube, Rana)
- 1 spinner(Kuldeep) + 1 spin allrounder (Jadeja, Axar, Sundar)

Good enough I think if the batting holds it's end up like it's done in the T20s.

 

[nish_mate]

I think we'll have to settle on
- 2 seamers (Bumrah, Siraj) + 2 seam bowling allrounders (Hardik + 1 of Reddy, Dube, Rana)
- 1 spinner(Kuldeep) + 1 spin allrounder (Jadeja, Axar, Sundar)

Good enough I think if the batting holds it's end up like it's done in the T20s.

Axar's got his spot locked. Reddy/Rana look more like bits and pieces players to me, Dubey untested for ODIs. One thing to whack 10 balls in a T20 and bowl the odd over. If he can cross over to being a Razzaq or Hardik or Just Kemp for India then that will be manna from heaven.

 

[Red-Indian]

Axar's got his spot locked. Reddy/Rana look more like bits and pieces players to me, Dubey untested for ODIs. One thing to whack 10 balls in a T20 and bowl the odd over. If he can cross over to being a Razzaq or Hardik or Just Kemp for India then that will be manna from heaven.

Yeah Axar's probably a lock. Kuldeep & Axar is a pretty good combo.

Dube's 32. He's not going to suddenly turn into a useful bowler. We'll just have to hope one of these bits & pieces quicks work on the right pitch in South Africa to accompany Hardik. Between Hardik and the other guy, we'll have to get 10 overs...tough stuff - Hardik's body can easily break down. I'm almost tempted to do what we did in the 2023 cup and go in a batter short - 5 full bowlers. We don't have a Shami level bowler waiting in the wings though unless we trust Arshdeep.

It's really tough to judge ODI form though. Hardly anybody takes ODI bilaterals seriously so series results are pretty useless to understand whether one team is better than the other.

We're obviously going to be very strong - 2023 World Cup finalists, Champions Trophy winners and successive T20 World Cup winners but whether we're going in as favourites won't be clear till a month or so before the tournament.

 

[shah9425]

31 off 44 vs India at New York.

Had he scored even at a run a ball, we would’ve won.

Legendary test match knock in T20 match

 

[nish_mate]

Good sportsmanship and maturity from Santaner, didnt look like was about to cry despite given an epic phainty or throw away his medal unlike Aghajee....

Bhaijaan should take note and write to his esteemed kaptaan on how to face adversity and loss.

 

[MP2011]

I think we'll have to settle on
- 2 seamers (Bumrah, Siraj) + 2 seam bowling allrounders (Hardik + 1 of Reddy, Dube, Rana)
- 1 spinner(Kuldeep) + 1 spin allrounder (Jadeja, Axar, Sundar)

Good enough I think if the batting holds it's end up like it's done in the T20s.

No Jadeja.

He has not done much in ODIs despite playing like forever.