Kiwi Skipper Mitchell Santner Admits His Side 'Outplayed By A Great Team'; Claims New Zealand Were Underdogs

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said his underdog team was outplayed by a great side in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 final after India notched a massive 96-run win to defend the trophy in front of a sea of Indian supporters at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

With this victory, India became the first team to win 3 World T20 titles in the shortest format after securing the trophy earlier in 2007 and 2024 under MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma respectively.

"Obviously, tonight, we were outplayed by a great team in front of a great crowd," Santner said in the post-match presentation.

Mitchell Santner had won the toss and put India in to bat. The home side raced to a record 255/5 in their 20 overs, thanks to Sanju Samson's blistering 89 along half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.

In response, the Kiwis were bowled out for just 159 runs. Senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah racked up man of the match winning figures of 4/15, while Axar Patel scalped 3/27 from his 3 overs.

"It was a pretty good wicket throughout. Had we got a couple of wickets in powerplay and kept India's total to 220, it could have been a good chase," Santner rued.

"Losing a series of finals isn't ideal. India is always a challenge. We were underdogs," he added.

Santner, who walked in to a rousing applause from the large crowd here, congratulated India for a domineering campaign.

"Credit to India to win a title at home, it always comes with a lot of pressure. And I think, SKY (India captain Surykumar Yadav) and the boys should be pretty.. very, very proud of their work." - Santner concluded.

This marked New Zealand's second consecutive defeat against India in an ICC event's final. 12 months ago, the Kiwis had remained second best in the Champions Trophy final at Dubai and the scenario remained the same in the shortest format as well.