ICC Men's T20 World Cup Final: Samson & Bumrah do it again as India blitz NZ to go back-to-back

In this episode of the show, Baldy and Stu look back at the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which was played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad between the Black Caps of New Zealand and the 2024 champions India.

We start with our instant reactions to India's dominant performance that made them the first team to win back-to-back titles at the Men's T20 World Cup. It's a tough one as Black Caps fans, but all credit to India for the way they played without fear in three crucial matches to finish the tournament and go all the way.

There's praise for Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan at the top of the order, as we wonder what - if anything - the Black Caps could have done to stop the Indian batting blitz. For New Zealand there was a brief moment of joy when Jimmy Neesham grabbed three wickets in an over, but Shivam Dube's flurry to finish meant the home side took all the momentum into the innings break.

Tim Seifert made a nice start, but once Axar Patel struck with the key wickets of Finn Allen and then Glenn Phillips, it was always going to be tough work for the Kiwis. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 4-15 to claim the player of the match, while Sanju Samson was named player of the tournament.

So there we have it - a month of high-quality cricket and plenty of fun for us on the show. New Zealand hearts broken again and India well deserved back-to-back champions in this edition of the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

We'll be back to regular programming at the weekend to look back at the tournament and look ahead to what's next. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or !) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

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0:00 India v New Zealand initial reactions
4:08 Sanju Samson & Abhishek Sharma smash the powerplay
12:50 Black Caps batting
19:10 Player of the Tournament - Samson or Bumrah?
25:05 Where does this World Cup win rank for India?
28:00 Outro and thanks