After a stunning win against England in the semi-final match of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Mumbai on Thursday, India have marched ahead into the final and will now face New Zealand in Ahmedabad. The Men in Blue have been in brilliant touch in the competition barring just one game where they suffered defeat against South Africa in the Super 8 stage.
Since, then India have stamped authority and won all the three matches. They first defeated Zimbabwe followed by West Indies. The clash against the Caribbean side turned out to be a virtual quarter-final where wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson played a crucial role and hit an unbeaten 97 to help the side move into the semis.
Sanju continued his form in the semi final against England as well and struck a brisk 89 to help India put up a big total. India eventually won the match by 7 runs to setup the finale with the Blackcaps.
While India are gearing up for the summit clash against the Kiwis, they will have to break the jinx to get their hands on the trophy. India have never defeated New Zealand in a T20 World Cup fixture. Here’s a look at all the three instances.
𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 ⏳
India and New Zealand will chase ultimate glory in the #T20WorldCup Final 🏆 pic.twitter.com/L1iPOTLfbX
— ICC (@ICC) March 5, 2026
Johannesburg (2007)
India and New Zealand played against each other in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 in Johannesburg in the Group stage match. Bating first, New Zealand put up 190 before getting bowled out. Craig McMillan and Jacob Oram chipped in with some aggressive display of batting. While McMillan struck 44 off 23, Oram scored 35 in just 15 deliveries.
Later, India were off to a decent start with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir putting up a 76-run stand for the first wicket. Gambhir notched up a fifty. But India lost the plot in the middle overs and lost wickets at regular intervals to 146/6 at one stage before eventually getting restricted to 180/9 and losing the match by 10 runs.
Daniel Vettori scalped a four-wicket haul. India though, went on to win the title eventually.
Nagpur (2016)
It was a low-scoring contest between the two sides in Nagpur in the 2016 edition. New Zealand who batted first only managed to put 126/7 in 20 overs. A target that looked within the reach soon became a difficult task as the spin trip of Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Nathan McCullum pushed India on the backfoot with regular wickets. The three bowlers scalped a total of 9 Indian wickets with Santner picking up four, Sodhi three and McCullum two.
India were bowled out for 79 to suffer a 47-run defeat.
Dubai (2021)
India batted first in Dubai and were restricted to 110/7 in 20 overs. Trent Boult scalped three wickets for the side. Later, the Kiwis didn’t really phase any issues during the chase and thoroughly dominated the Indian bowling unit to chase down the target by 8 wickets and with more than five overs to spare.
Daryl Mitchell top-scored with 49 off 35.
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