India eyes third T20 World Cup title as New Zealand hopes to spoil party in Sunday's final

Rohit Sharma then led India to consecutive triumphs at the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, but that defeat to Australia still rankles.

India has won two T20 World Cups (2007 and 2024). England and the West Indies also have two titles. India returns to Ahmedabad in pursuit of more silverware — again as co-hosts but this time also as defending champions.

"There is pressure, I cannot deny that,” Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said Saturday. “There is excitement too — playing another World Cup final and that too on home soil.”

New Zealand hopes to tune out the noise.

“Yes, that’s the goal isn’t it? To silence the crowd, but I think there are a lot of variables in T20 cricket (as compared to ODIs) and it is fickle at times,” captain Mitchell Santner said. “We have seen throughout this World Cup that a lot of teams are on a similar page and it comes down to little moments in every game that changes the outcome.”

The Black Caps have some hurt of their own. They finished runner-up to England in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, a final that went down to the wire with two super overs played. It then lost the 2021 T20 World Cup final to Australia. It is only the second final appearance for New Zealand in this tournament’s history.

Run to the final

Prior to this tournament, New Zealand engaged with India in a five-match T20 series and lost 4-1. However, that squad had a lot of second-string players and not many will consider that scoreline as a pointer to this matchup.

Since then, New Zealand has shifted up through the gears. It finished second in Group D, losing only to South Africa in the first round. The Proteas did enjoy advantage in that game at Ahmedabad, playing most of its games at the same venue.

That balance overturned in Kolkata, when New Zealand thumped South Africa by nine wickets in the first semifinal. Clever bowling, both pace and spin, and Allen’s 100 not out off 33 balls knocked the 2024 runner-up out of reckoning. In between, across the Super 8s, New Zealand only lost to England en route to the semifinals, beating Sri Lanka in Colombo, while its game against Pakistan was washed out.

Through round one, India finished top of Group A — also featuring Pakistan. Its sole hiccup in this tournament also came against South Africa — losing the first Super 8 game, also at Ahmedabad.

It served as a wake-up call for the defending champions — coach Gautam Gambhir switched openers as Sanju Samson came into the playing eleven to lighten the load on Abhishek Sharma. Samson has since scored 210 runs in three innings with back-to-back half-centuries against West Indies (Kolkata) and England (first semifinal in Mumbai).

Key matchups

Finn Allen’s form will pose a threat to India, whose bowling attack has suffered issues on flatter surfaces in this tournament and has constantly looked up to Jasprit Bumrah. The likes of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips are well versed with these conditions on offer, and have familiarity with the Indian bowling too.

Ishan Kishan has been the sole consistent performer in India’s top-order. Abhishek Sharma is still struggling. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have shuffled up and down the order on numerous occasions — it has worked at times. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube offer key hitting prowess.

How they fare against Matt Henry’s pace and Santner’s spin guile, as opposed to Allen versus Bumrah, will be key ingredients to this final.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket