On Sunday evening, there were blue-clad fans all around in the gigantic stands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, as the Indian men’s cricket team wrapped up a resounding 96-run win against the New Zealand national team and won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for 2022.
The host nation, widely predicted as one of the favourites for the tournament, played an aggressive style of cricket and bowled with great control throughout the game to emerge victorious. With this victory, the Indian men’s team won its third T20 World Cup title and became the first-ever team to retain the T20 World Cup trophy in the history of this tournament.
On the other hand, New Zealand added to their history of near misses in global tournaments with this heartbreaking loss.
India’s Explosive Start With The Bat
India’s decision to bat first was a bold choice, made even bolder by how well they executed their strategy. From the very beginning of the match, India set an aggressive tone by putting a significant amount of power into their batting display.
Abhishek Sharma began the early onslaught by playing with aggressive strokes that allowed him to reach an astonishing 50 runs off just 18 balls. He helped propel India to an astounding 92 runs without losing a wicket during the power play.
Ishan Kishan provided support to Sharma by playing calmly and precisely. He reached his half-century quickly while keeping the runs flowing at a rapid pace.
Although both players had excellent innings, ultimately, it was Sanju Samson’s performance that stood out. He scored 89 runs at an exceptional quality level while maintaining constant pressure on the bowlers throughout the middle innings.
India finished their 14th over with a total of over 190 runs scored. The final score after the completion of their innings was 255 runs for the loss of five wickets – one of the largest totals ever recorded in the history of the T20 World Cup.
New Zealand Briefly Fights Back.
For instance, New Zealand had reason to be cheerful. After taking out three of India’s top hitters (Samson, Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav) consecutively in his remarkable 3-run, 3-wicket over, Jimmy Neesham provided New Zealand with a brief flicker of hope. Unfortunately, this unexpected occurrence meant that India would not hit 300 in total and made things more difficult for New Zealand to achieve 256 while chasing it down in order to win a World Cup final.
Bumrah Ends The Contest Early
Initially, New Zealand appeared focused on their objective; however, this changed rapidly.
Jasprit Bumrah put together one of the best bowling performances of the tournament, using his crafty off-cutters and consistent line/length to destroy New Zealand’s top order. At the conclusion of his spell, he had taken four wickets for only fifteen runs.
Axar Patel also contributed significantly to Bumrah’s success with his bowling, taking three wickets and denying New Zealand any opportunity to establish themselves successfully.
Only Tim Seifert (52 runs) and Mitchell Santner (43 runs) managed to put any runs on the board; the remainder of New Zealand’s batting order failed to get anywhere close to meeting the required run rate.
Ultimately, New Zealand were bowled out for 159 runs.
A Historic Moment for India
The final catch to seal the match was caught at long on easily, confirming India winning the World Cup, & the celebration of cricket started with the catching of the ball by the fan/fans throughout the stadium.
This game also has great emotional significance to the home side because of their disappointment in losing the 2023 ODI World Cup final match held in the same city they were playing in, so this win represents a great redemption for them.
As for New Zealand, it was another example of their heartbreak in ICC finals.
Also Read: India Seal T20 World Cup Glory as Suryakumar Yadav Eyes Era of Dominance
