It was Sanju Samson who yet again set up the big win for India.
The gulf in big-match experience was evident, as Samson and Abhishek took the attack to their rivals from the get go. India hit top gear in the fourth over as they clobbered 24 runs in fourth over.
Samson-Sharma became the first opening duo to score 50+ stand in a T20 World Cup final. A usually reliable Matt Henry ended up conceding four wides in the fifth over, contributing to eight extra deliveries New Zealand bowled in Powerplay, the most they have ever done in T20Is.
Samson and Sharma carted the ball all around the park to pile 92 runs in the first six overs. It is the highest powerplay score of this World Cup, and the joint-highest in T20 World Cup history.
Though he wasn’t in the best of forms at the start of the World Cup. Sharma rose to the occasion in the final, bringing up the fastest 50 of the tournament, in just 18 balls with the help of six fours and three sixes.
Ravindra provided his team the breakthrough as he had Sharma nick to the wicketkeeper. However the 98-run opening stand, with Sharma contributing 52 off 21, may have well set India up for another big score.
Even after losing the wicket, India did not let New Zealand get a toehold in the match. Samson and Ishan Kishan went hell for leather, putting on 105 runs in just 48 balls for the second wicket.
Samson brought up his third half-century in a row, this time of 36 balls. It was another stunning innings by the right-hand batter, who jumped on the opportunity after returning to the playing XI. He struck five fours and eight sixes for 89 off just 46 balls.
He became the third player to slam a half-century in the semi-final as well as final of a T20 World Cup. Samson also became only the second batter, after Mahela Jayawardene in 2010, to notch three successive 80+ scores in the T20 World Cup.
India’s top three were in great touch on the day, with Kishan also bringing up his half-century. With four fours and four sixes, Kishan finished at 54 off 25 balls.
New Zealand’s decision to go with a pace-heavy attack in Ahmedabad back-fired. While Henry lost his composure early on, Lockie Ferguson was taken for special treatment by the Indian batters, as the plundered 48 runs off his two overs.
One James Neesham over put the brakes on India. After Samson failed to put away a full toss, Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav followed in the same over, the latter to a brilliant catch by Ravindra, as India slipped from 203/2 to 204/4 in the 16th over.
After a lull in scoring, India picked up the pace yet again in the last two overs. Shivam Dube struck three fours and two sixes to plunder 24 runs off the last over and take India past the 250-mark.
In total, India clobbered 19 fours and 18 sixes to earn 184 runs in boundaries.
