Sports News | T20 WC Final: New Zealand Wins Toss, Asks Defending Champions India to Bat

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 8 (ANI): New Zealand have won the toss and opted to field against India in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

New Zealand entered the finals after defeating South Africa in the semifinal, India secured a thrilling seven-run win over Engalnd in Mumbai to book their finals berth.

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In their head-to-head clashes, history may favour New Zealand, but form is with India. The Black Caps have not lost a match to India in the T20 World Cup, having scored victories in 2007, 2016 and 2021.

Going into the final, India are chasing a few firsts - first to defend a T20 World Cup title, first host team to win the T20 World Cup and the first to three T20 World Cup championships.

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For New Zealand, the biggest challenges will be how to keep the star-studded Indian batting line-up relatively quiet and how to deal with Jasprit Bumrah's unerring line and length.

"Happy to bat first since we have been doing that pretty well. Always good to have runs on the board in the semifinal or a final. It's history now, new World Cup, and we are excited for it. It looks full already, and it's only toss time, and hopefully we will give them a good show. Same team for us," Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said. "We are going to bowl first. Looks pretty good. We will see if it does anything and try to restrict them to a chasable score. Boys are good. This is why we are playing. It did. Great occasion, the semifinal and the guys will take confidence from that. This is the biggest stage, and everyone is ready. No, McConchie, Duffy is playing," New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said.

Teams: India (Playing XI): 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 (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)