Blue magic! 1-sided glory | India bulldoze New Zealand in final, defend T20 World Cup title

Ahmedabad: Riding on explosive batting strength right from the top, led by man-in-form Sanju Samson (89) and the burst of brilliance from Abhishek Sharma (52), India showed no mercy to crush New Zealand by 96 runs and lift the ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday night. If the batting was full of muscle, the fired-up Indian bowling attack, led by local hero Jasprit Bumrah (4 for 15 in 4 overs) and ‘Bapu’ Axar Patel (3 for 27) reduced the Kiwis to rubble. They were all out for 159 in 19 overs.

The emotions and joy which gripped Ahmedabad and entire India was felt at 1045pm, when the last wicket fell. Crackers being burst, dancing impromptu and more was the mood as India sealed the deal. Inside the Narendra Modi Stadium, over 1,20,000 fans screamed and wept. To win the T20 World Cup at home for the first time was massive. The last time India had achieved a World Cup win was in the ODI format in 2011 in Mumbai, when MS Dhoni was the skipper. Tonight, Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and legend Kapil Dev, all invited for the grand finale, savoured the triumph just like every other Indian cricket fan.

Ahmedabad had turned into a riot of colours from Sunday afternoon, with the real-feel temperature at 43 degrees Celsius. Inside the Narendra Modi Stadium, a 360-degree seating view, ‘Bleed Blue’ was the theme as fans fortunate to get a ringside view cheered Team India lustily. To say that Suryakumar Yadav’s men were a class act would be no exaggeration. Batting, bowling and the sublime catches taken by Ishan Kishan in the outfield, defined the intensity India showed on the field. Chasing a mountain of a target, the Kiwis had in Tim Seifert an opening batter who threatened India.

Yet, once he fell for 52, consumed by Varun Chakravarthy, courtesy an Ishan Kishan catch, the plot was lost. Lower down, captain Mitchell Santner hung around. On this day the skipper needed to score fast and furious, but the runs he put on the board were insufficient.

Credit for this will be the variety in the bowling, where pace and spin, subtle variations, made so much difference.

There was no venom in the pitch, so what the Indian bowlers achieved was even more credible.

Earlier on, call it pressure of expectation, or call it nerves, the Black Caps were clueless for most part. Santner won the toss and asked India to bat first. What followed was a bizarre sequence where Santner was shuffling his bowler so fast from the first over, it looked out of sync. It clearly showed Santner had not come in with a proper plan to calm the Indian openers, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, whose turbo knock was a real delight.

There were questions asked if Abhishek deserved to play, after a sequence of failures. Indeed, the team management’s decision to persist with dashing left-handed Abhishek Sharma, whose hand-eye coordination, bat speed and geometry of shots created was so slick, New Zealand had no clue where to bowl. It was clear, Abhishek was playing fearless cricket, despite the noise from the stands, where fans screamed themselves hoarse. Prior to the match, the tone had been set by pop music from Ricky Martin and Sukhbir Singh’s ‘Ishq Tera Tadpave.’

If the music from the professional singers was prelude, what followed from the bats of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma was also like heavy metal. Abishek Sharma has been under immense pressure. Yet, the glint in his eyes tonight was visible behind the helmet visor, as he treated the Kiwi bowling with contempt. His shots were timed to a nicety as he was fearless, even though the boundary at the Narendra Modi Stadium is much longer than in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium where India won the semi-final.

To be sure, it was a contrast of sorts watching the two openers, one in aggro mode, and Sanju ready to take his time. For sheer power and being punitive, Abhishek Sharma’s 52 off 21 deliveries, studded with six fours and three sixes defined domination. The flow of runs which continued from the Indian batters was defined by Ishan Kishan. Calm and quiet, Kishan puts immense pressure on the bowlers with his game sense and creativity with the bat. It was a joy to watch his 54 runs, off just 25 deliveries, where he mastered the Kiwi bowling attack. Four fours and an equal number of sixes was proof he could step on the accelerator, again and again in this World Cup.

If Ishan Kishan was potent, what came from the blade of Shivam Dube, a thorough team man, was explosive. His 26 runs off eight balls came after James Neesham had rocked India for a brief phase with a three-wicket haul. But then, as has been a pattern in this World Cup, Dube used his long reach and sweet timing to loot runs, which enabled India to score 255 in 20 overs.