Ahmedabad | Sanju Samson scarred an awestruck New Zealand in the company of an equally destructive Abhishek Sharma, who saved his best for the last in India's record-breaking 255 for five against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final here on Sunday.
And if that wasn't enough Ishan Kishan (54 off 25 balls) proved that even three can tango together as India's top three in a superlative batting display stunned New Zealand.
Abhishek took full advantage of Mitchell Santner's tactical harakiri with a 21-ball-52 blitzkrieg but Samson's muscular effort --- a dazzling 89 off 46 balls, a union of beastly power and silken grace, will be remembered for times to come.
There were eight sixes -- a few over long-on, couple over square leg, down the ground, and over long-off.
Samson made Rachin Ravindra's left-arm spin, Lockie Ferguson (0/48 in 2 overs) and Matt Henry's (0/49 in 4 overs) medium pace bowling look pedestrian. It was a massacre of a good bowling attack.
After match-winning efforts versus West Indies and England, Kerala's favourite son finally silenced the Doubting Thomases, who questioned his credentials over the past decade.
After a series of flop show and his place in the side being debated from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Abhishek finally performed true to his billing with liberal help from New Zealand pacers, who handed over the advantage to the southpaw on a platter.
An 18-ball-50 with his signature straight sixes, the familiar bat swing, the Punjab man enjoyed the rub of the green under the floodlit Ahmedabad skyline.
Skipper Santner completely misread the Motera track and made a blunder in team selection, dropping off-spinner Cole McConchie, who had dismissed southpaws Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickleton in the only over that he bowled in the semifinal.
Instead it was Jacob Duffy's (0/42 in 3 overs) friendly medium pace which became a cannon fodder for Abhishek as he smashed five of his half a dozen boundaries off him.
In case of Matt Henry (1/49 in four overs), once Samson smacked him for a six slightly wide off long-on, there was no looking back. With as many as 92 runs in the Powerplay, India had seized the decisive advantage.
After Rachin Ravindra (1/32 in 2 overs) removed Abhishek after a 98-run opening stand off 43 balls, Kishan kept the tempo with four sixes and as many boundaries
A 105-run stand off 48 balls took them past 200-run mark before Jimmy Neesham (3/46 in four over) removed Samson, Kishan and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0) in the 16th over. However, the damage had already been done by then.
Santner's decision to bench off-spinner Kyle McConchie and instead play Jcob Duffy didn't seem like a prudent call as he was hammered for three boundaries in his very first over.
While Glenn Phillips bowled a tidy second over, the moment Abhishek had to deal with pace, he was in his elements. The sixes over extra cover off Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry sent the capacity crowd into raptures.
Ahmedabad | New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bowl against defending champions India in the T20 World Cup final here on Sunday.
The Kiwis brought back in pacer Jacob Duffy to their playing eleven in place of all-rounder and off-spinner Luke McConchie.
India retained the same eleven from the semifinals against England at Mumbai.
Teams:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, and Jacob Duffy.
Ahmedabad | Global pop icon and two-time Grammy winner Ricky Martin set the stage on fire as he performed hits like Livin' la Vida Loca and 'The Cup of Life' during the closing ceremony ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup final here on Sunday.
Martin was joined by Indian singers Sukhbir Singh and Falguni Pathak, as the trio provided a musical prelude to the final showdown in Ahmedabad between India and New Zealand.
Known as the 'Prince of Bhangra', Sukhbir performed his famous Punjabi hits like 'Oh Ho Ho Ho' with a large dance troupe, while 'Dandiya Queen' Pathak opened the event with Gujarati folk and Bollywood hits around 50 dancers.
The Latino singer-songwriter ended his performance with his biggest hits such as 'María' and 'La Copa de la Vida', even as the packed house at the Narendra Modi Stadium went berserk.
The short closing ceremony preceded the final between defending champions India and maiden-title seeking New Zealand.
The tournament began on February 7.
