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After a month of compelling cricket, the field has been reduced to just two teams still standing.
It’s defending champions and hosts, India, up against serial semi-finalists New Zealand.
Both sides advanced to the final off the back of compelling batting efforts in the semis, with openers Finn Allen and Sanju Samson the two men who blazed the trail for their respective teams.
Sunday’s game will be compelling. India have lost just once all tournament, while New Zealand have suffered two reversals (each side has been beaten by South Africa).
If India win, they will claim their third title, while if the Kiwis are victorious, it will be their first.
T20 World Cup final – India v New Zealand
Key talking points
India
The World’s number one ranked side are playing at home, and they head into Sunday’s game as the clear favourites. But the favourite tag brings with it certain pressures that the underdog doesn’t have to worry about.
Heading into the final India will be very conscious of the fact that they haven’t been at their fluent best this tournament. Instead, they have relied on standout performances from individuals to get them over the line.
Sanju Samson has been the key in the last two games, while before that Ishan Kishan was the star. Varun Chakravarthy has been amongst the wickets, but he has been more expensive than usual.
New Zealand
New Zealand have never won this competition, but they will fancy their chances in 2026 especially given the way they destroyed previously unbeaten South Africa in the semi-final.
The Black Caps are a superbly balanced team with a mixture of sensational power hitters, excellent all-format cricketers and useful allrounders. Above everything, New Zealand are consistent.
Their opening partnership has been the most consistent all tournament while with the ball the wickets have been shared between several bowlers, with Rachin Ravindra surprisingly their best performer.
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Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
With a capacity of 132,000 this is the largest cricket stadium in the world. It will be sold out for Sunday’s final.
New Zealand have never won a game at the Narendra Modi Stadium, having played there on two previous occasions.
India have an excellent record at the ground, they have played there ten times, winning seven and losing three.
Sunday’s final will be just the 15th T20I to be held at the venue.
The side that won the toss has fielded first in 11 of the 14 games played at the ground.
The average first innings score at the ground is 174.
In what is perhaps a bad omen for the Black Caps, the highest score made at the ground was India’s 234 for four from 20 overs scored against New Zealand in 2023.
The Kiwis’ reply to that score was the lowest ever total at the ground – they were dismissed for just 66 runs.
The highest score successfully chased at the ground was South Africa’s 178 for three from 17.1 overs, made against New Zealand earlier this tournament.
Afghanistan chased 187 against South Africa, which was enough to tie the game but not to win it.
Weather
Sunday evening in Ahmedabad is forecast to be warm and pleasant. Temperatures will gradually cool from approximately 32 degrees down to 27. Skies will remain perfectly clear with no chance of rain.
Expect a light north-westerly breeze, as humidity levels stay low at roughly 25 percent.
Form
- India: W, W, W, L, W
- New Zealand: W, L, W, NR, W
Key players
Sanju Samson
Samson lost his spot in the India team for a while as Ishan Kishan found form and usurped him at the top of the order and behind the stumps.
But Samson is a quality performer and he hs battled his way back into contention to reclaim his openers spot alongside Abhishek Sharma.
Samson has come into form at exactly the right time as without him India may well have bowled out in the Super Eights.
His 97 from 50 balls was the mainstay of the chase against the West Indies, while his 89 from 42 in the semi-final against England was, unbelievably, even more fluent.
Samson has hit 11 sixes in his last two games. There are only two batsmen in the tournament who have scored more than 50 runs who have strike rates of over 200 – one is Samson, the other is Finn Allen.
Finn Allen
What Allen did to the Proteas on Wednesday was truly impressive. It will go down as one of the greatest ever T20 World Cup knocks.
Allen will know it won’t count for much if New Zealand don’t go on to secure the title and he will be looking to continue his good run of form in the final.
His partnership with Tim Seifert at the top of the Black Caps order has been the most fruitful of all opening combinations at the tournament.
Allen’s knock against South Africa took him up to third on the list of top scorers in the tournament (he has 289 runs from seven innings at an average of 57.80).
His opening partner Seifert is sixth on the list with 274 at 45.66. They make for an imposing combination, especially given they are striking at 203.52 (Allen) and 161.17 (Seifert) respectively.
Prediction: New Zealand
No team has ever defended its title, and no home side has ever won the competition. These stats are based on a relatively small sample size of nine previous tournaments, but there is something there.
A final is a one-off and T20, more than any other format, is a lottery. Any team can beat another on its day and this Sunday the time has come for it to be New Zealand’s day.
India have been good this tournament, but as the loss to South Africa showed, when they are fronted up to India can fold just like any other side.
If New Zealand can get onto the front foot and hush the 120 000 people who will pack the stadium, it could have a big effect on the hosts.
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