India again, by a distance

There was only ever going to be one ending. Not because India were inevitable - T20 cricket is still a capricious and unsparing format and we are told it does not do inevitable. And yet here they were, having taken a few games to fully locate themselves again, and then producing three 250-plus scores in their last four, playing a brand of cricket so complete and so suffocating that it began to feel almost offensive to the format's own sensibilities. On the grandest stage of all, in front of 86,824, almost every one of them unilaterally and deafeningly their own at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Abhishek Sharma (52 off 21), Sanju Samson (89 off 46) and Ishan Kishan (54 off 25) helped India plunder 255. New Zealand, fine and worthy finalists, barely laid a glove on that total as India became the first side to lift three men's T20 World Cups as well as the first side to defend this title, their dominance underscored by the winning margin of 96 runs.

The setting of this win had its own narrative circle. The other final in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023 was constantly invoked in the build-up. As had a game two weeks prior against South Africa. Frighteningly, those remain the only two losses over four ICC white-ball tournaments, the full extent of India's fallibility in this period. When Mitchell Santner won the toss and asked India to bat, there was another small nod to the past in it, and then Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson walked out, and the past became irrelevant. This opening partnership, forged in the aftermath of Barbados 2024 and the big-name retirements that followed, was the engine of this alpha version of India's T20 side. By the time they were done with a 98-run stand in just 7.1 overs, India effectively had their 31st win in ICC tournaments and one hand on their third ICC triumph in three years after going without one for 11 years before that.

Still, there was no premonition of what the final had in store. Not after India managed 12 in the first two overs, one of which came from Glenn Phillips, in keeping with the theme of bowling offspinners at India's left-hand dominant top-order. Phillips gave away just five but was, curiously, kept out of the attack for the rest of the innings. The floodgates opened instead through Jacob Duffy, brought in to replace Cole McConchie, who had taken two wickets in his only over in the semi-final against South Africa. Abhishek, having shown early restraint, found Duffy's pace and fuller lengths to his liking and cleared the infield straight down the ground twice. Samson added one of his own. India were running.

What followed was a Powerplay that consumed New Zealand whole. Santner turned to a fourth different bowler but everyone he turned to was profligate. Lockie Ferguson went for 24 while Henry came back to give away 21, and every conceived plan to contain this opening pair dissolved into the Ahmedabad night. It was a cruel flashback of the bilateral series between the sides just before this World Cup. And they hadn't even reached the final over yet. That belonged entirely to Abhishek, who, upon spotting two fielders parked on the off-side, simply walked across his stumps and hoicked Duffy over the legside for the cheek of it. The world's No. 1 ranked T20I batter reached an 18-ball half-century - the fastest of this tournament - in a World Cup final, a strangely lukewarm run coming into the game thoroughly and emphatically buried. In a match-losing Powerplay, New Zealand bowled 44 balls, conceded 92, and sent down a personal-worst eight wides in this phase.

The post-Powerplay phase though began tidily enough as Santner's own over cost just six before Rachin Ravindra struck first ball to remove Abhishek for a 21-ball 52. But Ishan Kishan arrived at No. 3 with no interest in a dip in tempo, announcing himself with a gloriously flick-punched four off Ravindra through mid-wicket, then guiding an over-compensated full ball past point for another. By the 10th over, India had 127.

Samson, relatively subdued by his own lofty standards from the previous two games, still found his way to a 33-ball half-century, joining only Shahid Afridi and Virat Kohli in the history of men who have scored fifties in both the semi-final and final of a T20 World Cup. He celebrated the distinction by tearing into Ferguson for two sixes and a four, then launching Ravindra for three sixes on the bounce. At the other end, Kishan raced to a 23-ball half-century as India passed 200 with five death overs still to go. The broadcaster's forecast had them reaching 290.

Those ambitions were arrested, briefly, by an unlikely source. James Neesham struck three times in the 16th over, two via full-tosses, to remove the set Samson and Kishan. Suryakumar Yadav scooped his first ball straight to Ravindra at long leg. India went 16 balls without a boundary as Hardik Pandya struggled for timing while New Zealand found some belated reward with their wide, off-paced deliveries yanking batters out of shape, and the total began to look like it might settle somewhere under 240. When Pandya fell for a 13-ball 18, the door was fractionally ajar. Then Shivam Dube walked in and closed it with a thud. Three fours and two sixes off Neesham's final over effectively ended whatever fleeting hope New Zealand had cultivated and powered India to 255.

There on, New Zealand's best hopes lay on their opening pair producing an encore of their semifinal performance. Finn Allen was even dropped by Dube in the first over and a 21-run second over from Pandya set the foundations for a strong start. That was about as good as it got for them as Axar Patel, brought on to bowl the third over, won his match-up against Allen, having him caught at long-on. Then, for a second game in a row, Jasprit Bumrah struck with his first delivery - a slower ball - that Ravindra attempted to play a pick-up shot to and found Kishan at deep backward square leg. Before the Powerplay ended, Axar had cleaned up Glenn Phillips to begin the procession.

Tim Seifert brought New Zealand some joy by taking down Varun Chakaravarthy for 16 to complete a 23-ball fifty. Chakaravarthy had his man in the next over with Kishan completing another fine catch in the deep. Before that dismissal, Hardik Pandya had Mark Chapman dragging on. At 72 for 5, the match was effectively done. Still there was some time for Bumrah (4 for 15) to conjure more off-cutter magic as he cleaned up Neesham and Henry off successive deliveries and then dislodged Santner's timber to rubber-stamp his class on another phenomenal tournament for him after his Player of the Tournament-winning heroics 18 months ago.

Brief Scores: India 255/5 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 89, Ishan Kishan 54, Abhishek Sharma 52; James Neesham 3-46) beat New Zealand (Tim Seifert 52; Jasprit Bumrah 4-15) by 96 runs