Abhishek Sharma plays a shot during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 final cricket match between India and New Zealand, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. (PTI Photo)

Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson gave India an explosive start in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.The two openers added 98 runs for the first wicket, creating the first 50-plus opening partnership in a men’s T20 World Cup final. The previous highest opening stand in a final was 48, scored by Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan for Pakistan against Sri Lanka at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2009.

Abhishek had not scored many runs earlier in the tournament but delivered in the final, while Samson continued his run of form. Both openers scored 92 runs in the powerplay, the highest powerplay score in any T20 World Cup match.Also See: India vs New Zealand Live Score T20 World Cup Final 2026

Abhishek brought up his fifty in the final off just 18 balls and was eventually dismissed on 52. Highest PP scores in T20 WCs92/0 – IND vs NZ, Ahmedabad, 2026 Final92/1 – WI vs AFG, Bridgetown, 202491/1 – NED vs IRE, Sylhet, 201489/3 – ENG vs SA, Mumbai WS, 201686/1 – IND vs NAM, Delhi, 2026FOLLOW LIVEEarlier, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to field.Before the match, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma brought the T20 World Cup trophy onto the field, drawing a loud response from the crowd.Dhoni led India to the first T20 World Cup title in 2007, while Rohit captained the side to their second title in the 2024 edition.New Zealand reached the final after defeating South Africa in the semifinal. India secured a seven-run win over England in Mumbai to reach the final.In T20 World Cup meetings between the two sides, New Zealand have the edge with wins in 2007, 2016 and 2021.India are chasing several milestones in the final. The side is aiming to become the first host nation to win the T20 World Cup, the first team to defend the title and the first team to win the tournament three times.For New Zealand, one challenge is to contain India’s batting order and handle the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah.“Happy to bat first since we have been doing that pretty well. Always good to have runs on the board in the semifinal or a final. It’s history now, new World Cup, and we are excited for it. It looks full already, and it’s only toss time, and hopefully we will give them a good show. Same team for us,” India captain Suryakumar Yadav said.“We are going to bowl first. Looks pretty good. We will see if it does anything and try to restrict them to a chasable score. Boys are good. This is why we are playing. It did. Great occasion, the semifinal and the guys will take confidence from that. This is the biggest stage, and everyone is ready. No, McConchie, Duffy is playing,” Santner said.India are playing their fourth T20 World Cup final, the most by any team. Out of the nine previous finals, six were won by the side chasing. Of the remaining three, India won two — in 2007 and 2024 — both in matches decided in the final over.TeamsIndia (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy.