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AHMEDABAD, India, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - New Zealand skipper Mitchell 
Santner won the toss and elected to field first in the T20 World Cup final on 
Sunday as they look to win their first title.

Over 100,000 fans were expected to fill the stands at Ahmedabad's Narendra 
Modi stadium -- the world's biggest cricket ground with a seating capacity of 
132,000.

New Zealand, who reached the 2021 final and have never won a white-ball World 
Cup, made one change to their team with pace bowler Jacob Duffy coming in for 
off-spinner Cole McConchie.

Santner's side has been hot and cold in the 20-team tournament but hammered 
South Africa in a nine-wicket semi-final win.

India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, come in unchanged from their nerve-wracking 
semi-final win over England as they attempt to become the first team to 
retain the trophy.

A win for the co-hosts could also be the first for any team on home soil and 
a record third world T20 crown.

Bollywood dance and song dominated the opening acts before they which 
concluded with a performance from Grammy Awards winning singer Ricky Martin.

Teams

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav 
(capt), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun 
Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, 
Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (capt), Matt 
Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy.

Umpires: Alex Wharf (ENG), Richard Illingworth (ENG)

TV Umpire: Allahuddien Paleker (RSA)

Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)