New Zealand are preparing to face India in the T20 World Cup final. The match will be held in Ahmedabad. A crowd of around 100,000 is expected at the Narendra Modi stadium, with more than a billion watching at home, with almost all supporting the tournament co-hosts and defending champions.
Santner Aims to Spoil the Party
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has expressed his desire to win a trophy. “I wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts and lifting a trophy for once,” said Santner. He admitted his side will not be favourites.
Santner believes his team consistently performs well in tournaments. “We are pretty consistent in these tournaments because we try not to get overawed by the situation or opponents,” Santner said. “We just go there and do our thing and as a unit it’s been no different this time.”
Drawing Inspiration from Australia’s Victory
Santner’s men can look to the 2023 50-over World Cup final for inspiration. Australia stunned India at the same venue. India were previously unbeaten. Under the weight of expectation, India were tentative with the bat and dismissed for 240 before Travis Head’s century powered Australia to a rapid victory.
Santner believes New Zealand can put pressure on India. “There’s obviously a lot of pressure on India to win this World Cup at home,” Santner said. “We can go out there and try and put that added pressure on them and see what happens.”
Against Australia, India reached 76-1 inside 10 overs but only 72 runs came between the start of the 11th and the end of the 30th.
India’s Confidence
India captain Suryakumar Yadav said he did not feel the need to discuss the 2023 defeat with the team. “We have been preparing for this stage really well,” he said. “It started two years back and the circle has come to the same stadium in that we left in 2023.
“Hopefully we play some good cricket, be courageous in tough situations. That is the simple message to the team.”
New Zealand’s Challenge
New Zealand are well aware of India’s batting strength. They lost 4-1 in a T20 series before this World Cup. India scored more than 200 in three of the five matches. India chased 154 in 10 overs in one of the others.
New Zealand have reached this final despite losing to South Africa and England previously in the competition.
The semi-final against England showed the importance of taking wickets if you are to have any hope of limiting India’s score.
Sunday’s final will be the Black Caps’ fifth white-ball final in the past 11 years.