The T20 World Cup 2026 | India becomes the champions!
Hello, fellow Cricket Enthusiasts,
Well, as expected from the start, India became the World champions back-to-back. Without a doubt, they are the dominant white ball cricket team for years now, and they proved that once again in front of their home crowd. Although their start to the tournament was a bit average, they got their momentum with time, especially after the addition of Sanju Samson as an opener. He just won the three most important matches and received the Man of the tournament, playing just 5 games.
Congratulations team India, for a well-deserved victory.
As I said in the last week, after 40 Group stage matches and 12 Super 8 matches, South Africa, India, England, and New Zealand advanced to the semi-finals.
South Africa faced New Zealand in the 1st semi final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Eventhough South Africa was dominating before this match, New Zealand had other plans.
SA batted first, and they couldn't get the perfect start as expected. The top order didn't find many boundaries, and, comes to worse, they lost wickets. After 10 overs, they were 77/5. But Marco Jansen came to the rescue with a blistering 55 runs off 30 balls. So with that knock, they ended scoring 169/8 in the 2o overs.
Eventhough it seems a competitive score, New Zealand made an absolute mockery of the target of 170. Especially with unbelievable hitting from Fin Aleen, they chased down the target in just 12.5 overs and sealed their spot at the finals. It was just brutal. Fin Aleen scored 100 runs off just 33 balls, including 10 fours and 8 sixes. It's the fastest hundred in T20 World Cup history, and the third fastest overall in T20Is. Tim Seifert helped him with 58 runs off 33 balls.
- The 2nd Semi-Final was held between India and England in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. What a high-scoring thriller that was. India batted first and scored 253/7 in their 20 overs. What a show of class and power. Sanju Samson played a gem of an inning. Rather than being just a power hitter, he carried the innings sensibly while being a power hitter. He scored 89 off 42 balls. And the rest carried the momentum freely to score that kind of total.
England couldn't get the perfect start. Salt and Brook went early, after a few hits, Butler also got out. England batters didn't try to settle. They fought back hard to win. When wickets fell, one man carried the innings and hopes. Jacob Bethell took on the ballers and scored 105 runs off 48 balls. England scored 185/5 after 15 overs and needed 70 in the last 5, and given the way they batted, it was achievable. But Jusprit Bumrah made an excellent spell, giving away just 14 runs in the 16th and 18th overs. They could only manage 246/7.
- The grand finale was held at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. New Zealand won the toss and elected to field, which haunted them. After a few quiet overs, India started cracking the ballers. Abhishek Sharma finally got his form, and along with Sanju Samson, there were just firecrackers.
In the first powerplay, they scored 92/0, and the first wicket fell at 98/1. Abhishek scored 52 off 21 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Then Ishan Kishan joined Samson and added 105 runs in the next 8 overs. After 15, they were 203/1. Sanju Samson scored 89, and Ishan added 55. But Jimmy Neesham changed that momentum in the 16th over, with 3 wickets, and for a while inning got slow. Either way, India scored a record total of 255/5.
Anyhow, New Zealand could give a fight in the chase. They lost wickets; only three batters got double digits. They ended up scoring 159/10 in 19 overs. India won by 96 runs.
Most Runs
- Familiar names have climbed the list. Sahibzada Farhan from Pakistan is leading the list along with Tim Seifert, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Finn Allen. Farhan's 383 runs are now the highest T20I score ina single edition. And Brian Bennet from Zimbabwe showed some real class and consistency. There were 7 hundred from Nissanka, Farhan, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Finn Allen and Yuvraj Samra from Canada.
Most Wickets
- Jasprit Bumrah leads the chart with Shadley van Schalkwyk from the USAVarun Chakaravarthy, Blessing Muzarabani, and Adil Rashid.
Sanju Smason became the player of the tournament for his extraordinary performance.
This will be a huge contest. Who are you backing?
So, that's it for today!! Until next time! Enjoy!
Thank you.
Best Regards!
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