India win third T20 world cup title

By Cricketing Country | Posted Posted Mar 08, 2026

India have been crowned champions of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, defeating New Zealand in the final on Sunday to secure their second consecutive title and third overall.

Playing at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India registered a dominant 96-run victory. Chasing a daunting target of 256, New Zealand were bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.

Opener Tim Seifert top-scored for New Zealand with 52 runs, while captain Mitchell Santner added 43. Daryl Mitchell contributed 17, but the rest of the batting line-up failed to reach double figures.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah delivered an outstanding spell, taking four wickets for just 15 runs in his four overs. Axar Patel claimed three wickets, while Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy and Abhishek Sharma picked up one wicket each.

Earlier, after losing the toss, India posted a massive total of 255 for 5 in their 20 overs. Sanju Samson led the charge with a blistering 89 off 46 balls, smashing five fours and eight sixes. He received strong support from Ishan Kishan, who scored 54 off 25 balls, and Abhishek Sharma, who made a rapid 52 from 21 deliveries. Shivam Dube also chipped in with a quickfire 26 from just eight balls.

For New Zealand, Jimmy Neesham took three wickets, while Matt Henry and Rachin Ravindra claimed one each.

India’s only defeat in the tournament came during the Super Eight stage against South Africa, but they bounced back strongly to finish the campaign as world champions.

India had previously lifted the inaugural trophy in ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2007, before ending a 17-year wait by winning the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

With this latest victory, they successfully defended the title and became the first team to win the tournament in consecutive editions.

New Zealand, meanwhile, were left as runners-up once again. The Black Caps had also finished second in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, where they lost the final to Australia national cricket team.