‘THEY SHOWED THEIR CLASS AGAIN WITH THE BAT’: NEW ZEALAND CAPTAIN
New Delhi, Mar 10, 2026 : New Zealand captain Mitchel Santner admitted his side were outplayed by India in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final but said he remained proud of his team’s effort despite the 96-run defeat at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
India posted a massive 255 for 5 before bowling New Zealand out for 159 in 19 overs on a mixed-soil pitch.
“It obviously wasn’t our greatest effort as we came up against a very good team,” Santner said in the post-match press conference.
He thanked fans back home for their support during the tournament.
“It’s thanks to the fans back home for following us. We’ve got great support back home and we get great support here as well. It was awesome to play in front of so many people, even though there were a lot more blue shirts than black ones,” he said.
New Zealand had reached the final after defeating South Africa by nine wickets in the semi-finals in Kolkata but struggled against India’s powerful batting and disciplined bowling.
Santner said losing early wickets in the chase proved costly.
“They showed their class again with that batting performance. When you are chasing 250, everything has to go right. Losing wickets in the powerplay is always a challenge. I think that was the tale of the day,” he said.
New Zealand were 40 for 3 in the powerplay, while India had raced to 90 without loss in the same phase.
Looking ahead, Santner said the team would reflect on the tournament before turning its attention to next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“To make it to a final is a pretty good effort from the boys and they should be very proud of what they achieved in this tournament,” he said.
The next men’s T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2028.
Santner also acknowledged the challenge of winning a World Cup at home.
“That’s one of the hardest things — to win a World Cup in your own country. For India to do that with the pressure of home fans is a big achievement. They should be very proud of it,” he said.