Three scores above 250. A record-equalling powerplay of 92 in the final. Bumrah’s three wickets with slow yorkers. Abhishek Sharma’s 18-ball fifty. Sanju Samson’s 89. A 96-run victory margin. The numbers behind India’s T20 World Cup triumph are extraordinary, and they tell the story of a team that dominated this tournament from start to finish. No men’s team had ever defended this title before. India have now done so, and the statistics explain exactly why.
The final began with India’s batters establishing dominance in the powerplay, a phase of the game they have mastered above all others in this tournament. Sharma’s 50 off 18 deliveries was the centrepiece of a six-over period that produced 92 without loss — equalling the all-time World Cup record. From that platform, Samson and Kishan built a total of 255, a score that New Zealand’s bowlers had no answer to throughout the innings.
New Zealand’s bowling stats told a sorry tale. Ferguson: 24 runs in his first over. Henry: 21 in his first. Duffy: 15 in his first back after an extended absence. Neesham: three wickets and one run from an over that belonged in a statistical curiosity collection. These are the numbers of a bowling attack that was outclassed, outmanoeuvred, and ultimately outscored.
In the second innings, Bumrah’s three wickets helped dismiss New Zealand for 159. His man-of-the-match performance was a fitting individual accolade within a team triumph of historic proportions. The final margin of 96 runs was the appropriate end to a match — and a tournament — defined by India’s all-encompassing excellence.
India are champions of the world, again. The numbers say so. The record books say so. Cricket history says so.
