Bumrah, the Brilliant; Kishan repairs India’s fielding follies and New Zealand pick the baton of bottles as India defend T20 World Cup title

Yet his role in the story was not done.

With the match almost in the bag, he was handed the ball in the 19th over. Off the last ball, Jacob Duffy went for the big shot, only to sky it towards the long-on. Tilak Varma settled underneath, the ball dropping safely into his hands. That catch was the crowning moment.

At the very venue that had once witnessed one of India’s most painful heartbreaks, the team finally had its redemption. And fittingly, Abhishek Sharma – who had started the tournament with a duck and battled through a difficult campaign – played a decisive hand in the final chapter.

– Shankar Narayan

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Bumrah brilliant from start to finish

That the pacer with the most brutal yorker on the planet also has the most menacing slower ball is well known. But this T20 World Cup, the way Jasprit Bumrah has gone about sending the slower deliveries and cultivating rewards for it has been nothing short of exceptional. Like the semifinal, Bumrah started the night by delivering a slower ball that fetched him the wicket of Rachin Ravindra. And then Bumrah still had the time to write the finishing lines of this incredible chapter and he chose to combine two of his lethal tricks – yorker and slower ball. In his third over, he delivered two successive slower deliveries which James Neesham and Matt Henry couldn’t even pick. It didn’t come out of syllabus. No matter how much you prepare for it, every time Bumrah delivers a slower delivery, it poses all sorts of questions. Having watched it all from the other end, Mitchell Santner would face a similar end as India made history by becoming the first team to defend a T20 World Cup title.

– Venkata Krishna B

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Who are the chokers?

Former South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn had claimed that his country gets needless rap as ‘chokers’ with New Zealand making a habit of faltering at the final hurdle of major ICC tournaments. The Kiwis almost always make at least the semifinals of big events, but apart from one World Test Championship and an ICC knockout crown, have almost always finished as the bridesmaids. They have finished runner-up twice each in the 50-over World Cup, the T20 version and the Champions Trophy. So, in a way, there is some merit in what Steyn said in a podcast with his former Proteas teammate AB de Villiers. He claimed that it should be the Kiwis who should be branded as the real ‘chokers’. The reason the two teams are treated differently may be that New Zealand doesn’t have the resources (population ) in terms of depth of talent that South Africa possess. The Proteas have always have had a bevy of cricketing superstars, but never managed to do justice to the tag of favourites.

– Tushar Bhaduri

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When Kishan grabbed a screamer

Up until the semi-final, India’s fielding had been a lingering concern throughout the tournament. Catches had gone down at crucial moments, and the lapses in the field often threatened to undo the hard work done with bat and ball.

But when it mattered the most, India found another gear. The turnaround began in the semi-final, where Axar Patel set the tone with two stunning catches. And in the final, it was Ishan Kishan who produced a moment of brilliance to keep that momentum alive.

In the first ball of the fourth over, Jasprit Bumrah delivered a back-of-a-length ball on leg stump, tempting Rachin Ravindra into the pick-up flick. The New Zealand batter mistimed it, the ball looping awkwardly towards deep backward square leg.

What followed was pure instinct.

Stationed in the deep, Kishan sprinted forward and flung himself into a full-length dive. For a split second, it seemed the ball might spill out as his elbows crashed into the turf. It did pop loose briefly, but Kishan reacted instantly, clutching the rebound before it could touch the ground.

Bumrah wheeled away in delight, racing towards Kishan to celebrate the breakthrough.

After weeks of uncertainty in the field, India were suddenly sharp, alert and confident under pressure. Moments like these often shape finals, and Kishan’s athletic effort ensured India carried the renewed fielding intensity from the semi-final onto the biggest stage of the tournament.

– Shankar Narayan

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Meandering to an inevitable end

The match had taken a celebratory hue even before the Powerplay in the New Zealand innings got over. Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah (who else!) had nipped the Kiwi challenge even before they entertained any hopes of giving the mountain of a target a shake-up. It even allowed India a bunch of ground fielding errors and dropped catches. it was as if the Indians were taking the mickey out of the opposition, conveying the distance between the two teams. The big hits became more and more infrequent, the asking rate reached unrealistic levels as the competitive level went out of the game. The Kiwis were waiting to be put out of their misery while the Indians were counting the deliveries before they could celebrate openly.

– Tushar Bhaduri

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Arshdeep’s reverse-swing throw at Mitchell

In a moment that was a throwback to the altercation between Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc in the IPL 12 years back – fortunately minus flying bats – Arshdeep Singh and Darly Mitchell spiced up the proceedings in Ahmedabad in the 11th over, Mitchell mishit a shot down the ground, the ball dribbled to Arshdeep in his follow through. It’s hard to figure what was going through in Arshdeep’s mind as he wound-up and unleashed a throw towards the striker’s end when the Kiwi hadn’t even left his crease. Towards the striker in fact, because Mitchell wasn’t exactly in front of the stumps. So instead of stumps the ball hit Mitchell flush on his body. And Mitchell didn’t like it, not one bit. Arshdeep too, in the heat of moment, walked back to the top of his run-up with no apology on the horizon. It was Suryakumar Yadav who walked upto Mitchell and shook hands while the umpire gave Arshdeep a talking to. Fair play to Arshdeep, he shook hands with Mitchell at the end of that over, and later explained “throw reverse swing ho gayaa. I apologised”. All’s well that ends well. Mitchell was gone soon after though.

– Vinayakk M

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Varun sees off Seifert with a smile

There was a wry smile on Varun Chakaravarthy’s face as Ishan Kishan took the catch to send back Tim Seifert. The past fortnight, particularly after the Super 8 stages began haven’t been easy on him. He had taken only a wicket each in the last four matches and ahead of the final there were discussions on his spot. But India, like they have done all along, backed the under-fire player. He started by conceding two sixes in his first over, but he bounced back like he has done previously. The room was denied, the length was slightly altered, and Seifert holed out at the deep. It was his wicket No 14 in the tournament, which makes it the highest for anyone. For a spinner who hasn’t been at his best, he would happily take it if a World Cup medal sits perfectly around his neck.

– Venkata Krishna B

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Calm before the storm

“It was nowhere near a wide”. Simon Doull didn’t mince words after a ball angled away from Abhishek Sharma, was penalised by umpire Richard Illingworth. It may not have mattered much, but when Jacob Duffy bowled closer to the left-hander, the opener and India got the momentum they were denied for the first two overs. The next two deliveries were smashed over mid-on and mid-off as the beleaguered batsman got the wind in his sails. The last ball of the over was hit by Sanju Samson back over the bowler’s head, as 15 came off the third over. India were on their way and the next over, bowled by speedster Lockie Ferguson went for 24. Even a leading edge went over third for six. The Black Caps pacemen didn’t help their cause by bowling frequent wides down the leg side, and it seemed that the occasion had got to the cool Kiwis.

– Tushar Bhaduri

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Abhishek finds his mojo

India’s Achilles heel in the tournament had been off-spin, making it little surprise when New Zealand turned to Glenn Phillips as early as the second over. With Abhishek Sharma yet to find his rhythm in the competition, the move seemed perfectly timed. But on Sunday, things fell into place early for the left-hander. Off the last ball of Phillips’ over, Abhishek leaned into a drive and creamed it past cover for two, a shot that hinted at the fluency to come. The real momentum shift arrived in the following over when he took on seamer Jacob Duffy, smashing two boundaries to put the pressure back on New Zealand. Those early strokes proved to be the spark Abhishek needed. With confidence flowing, he began to free his arms and ensured India made the most of the Powerplay, turning what could have been a probing phase for New Zealand into a positive start for India at the top.

– Tushar Bhaduri

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Ishan’s touch play

With two shots against left-arm spinner Rachin Ravindra, Ishan Kishan showed that timing from his bat wasn’t going to be the problem in the final. Abhishek Sharma, who found form with a quickfire fifty, had just got out chasing a wide ball, but on a flat pitch there was going to be no taking the foot off the pedal. In the fourth ball he faced, Kishan went back to a ball that turned in from outside off stump. He not only spotted the length early but was in the perfect position by the time the ball reached him. What followed was the perfect bat swing, not horizontal but vertical. A nice easy flow that met the ball at the perfect time to help Kishan whip the ball to the deep midwicket boundary. The beauty of the shot, apart from the timing, was how perfectly positioned Kishan was — not getting too cramped and not too hurried with the shot. In an evening of sixes, this four was one of the finest shots. The next delivery was another touch shot from Kishan — a late cut behind point.

– Nihal Koshie

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Neesham’s crest after the trough

Jimmy Neesham knows all about vicissitudes of cricket. At 203/1 after 15 overs, India seemed to be cruising towards a 300-plus total, with Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan tearing into the New Zealand attack.

Then came the reminder of how quickly T20 cricket can twist the plot. In the 16th over, Neesham flipped the script, striking three times in the space of six balls to slam the brakes on India’s charge. Samson was the first to fall, mistiming a lofted hit off a low full toss to substitute Cole McConchie at long-on, bringing an end to a superb 89 off 47 balls. Four deliveries later, Kishan followed, holing out to Mark Chapman at the same position while attempting another big hit. The over ended with Suryakumar Yadav falling for a golden duck, his trademark short-arm pull finding Rachin Ravindra at deep backward square leg. In a blink, three wickets had fallen for one run, and an innings that was roaring ahead suddenly stumbled. The man who emotionally told kids to bake, get fat, die at 60 instead of playing cricket, was being put through another rollercoaster.

– Shankar Narayan

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Relief After Drop

Fresh off a blistering 33-ball hundred in the semi-final, Finn Allen was the one wicket India desperately wanted early while defending 255. But the nerves inside the stadium spiked in the very first over.

On the fifth ball, Arshdeep Singh induced a mistimed loft from Allen that ballooned high over mid-off. Shivam Dube tracked back under it, hands raised, but the ball brushed past his fingertips and dropped. Allen slammed his bat in frustration, while Arshdeep had already begun his celebratory run before realising the chance had gone down. For a moment, it felt like the kind of miss that could come back to haunt India.

Thankfully for the hosts, the reprieve did not prove costly. A couple of overs later, Axar Patel banged one in short, Allen went for the pull and could only pick out the fielder. Dismissed for 9, the early scare faded quickly – and a collective sigh of relief swept through the Indian camp.

– Shankar Narayan