What happened the last time India faced New Zealand in a final?

India are set to face New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday, March 08. The two sides will come into the showpiece game on the back of some great performances in the semi-final, bringing a lot of confidence to the centre stage at the Motera deck. 

This will be the fourth time that both sides will face each other in a major ICC final, with their last meeting coming in the Champions Trophy 2025 final held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 09. India would come out on top on that occasion to win their third Champions Trophy title and first since 2013. 

New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first in the big final to post a respectable 251 on the board for the loss of seven wickets. The Kiwis relied on Daryl Mitchell’s 63 off 101 balls in very difficult conditions. Their innings was given a major boost towards the end by Michael Bracewell, who scored an unbeaten 53 from just 40 deliveries, striking three fours and two sixes along the way. 

Indian spinners played a crucial role in restricting New Zealand to just 251. The pair of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy picked up four wickets between them, with Kuldeep being the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 for 40 from his full quota of ten overs. Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with a wicket each too.

In reply, the Indians went on to chase the total with one over to spare to taking the title in home, having lost the previous time to Pakistan. Skipper Rohit Sharma, along with opener Shubman Gill, gave the Men in Blue the perfect platform, forging a 105-run opening stand. Rohit top-scored with 76 off 83 balls, an innings comprising seven fours and three sixes. There were healthy contributions in the middle overs from Shreyas Iyer (48) and Axar Patel (29) with KL Rahul’s 34* that eventually sealed the win for the Indian team.

Winning the 2025 Champions Trophy meant that Rohit’s side would win back-to-back ICC honours, having also lifted the global 20-over tournament in 2024.