What happened the last time India faced New Zealand in a final?
ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final will see India national cricket team play against New Zealand national cricket team at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, March 8. Both teams played very well in the semi-finals, so they will come into the big match with a lot of confidence. This will be the fourth time that both sides will face each other in a major ICC final, with their last meeting coming in the Champions Trophy 2025 final held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 09. India would come out on top on that occasion to win their third Champions Trophy title and first since 2013.
New Zealand national cricket team won the toss and decided to bat first in the final. They scored 251 for 7. The team depended on Daryl Mitchell, who made 63 runs from 101 balls in tough conditions. Their innings was given a major boost towards the end by Michael Bracewell, who scored an unbeaten 53 from just 40 deliveries, striking three fours and two sixes along the way. Indian spinners played a crucial role in restricting New Zealand to just 251.
Their previous ICC final clash ended with India beating New Zealand
The pair of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy picked up four wickets between them, with Kuldeep being the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 for 40 from his full quota of ten overs. Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with a wicket each too.
In reply, India national cricket team chased the target with one over to spare and won the title at home after losing the previous final to Pakistan national cricket team. Captain Rohit Sharma and opener Shubman Gill gave the team a strong start, putting together a 105-run opening partnership.
Rohit top-scored with 76 off 83 balls, an innings comprising seven fours and three sixes. There were healthy contributions in the middle overs from Shreyas Iyer (48) and Axar Patel (29) with KL Rahul’s 34* that eventually sealed the win for the Indian team. Winning the 2025 Champions Trophy meant that Rohit’s side would win back-to-back ICC honours, having also lifted the global 20-over tournament in 2024.
