New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner was proud of his players efforts as they came up short against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Final.
The Black Caps upset South Africa in the semifinals to reach the T20 World Cup decider with plenty of confidence, but were outclassed when they fell to a 96-run loss to tournament co-hosts India in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
It was the second time this decade that the Black Caps have lost a T20 World Cup final after their runner-up finish behind Australia in 2021 and comes on the back of another second-placed finish at the ICC Champions Trophy last year, but Santner believes that means his team is seemingly getting closer to claiming the ultimate prize.
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“I guess it’s not ideal, losing semis and finals, but like I said the other day, you get to this situation, you’re coming up against teams that are also playing very good cricket,” Santner said.
“India in a final, and India is always going to be a challenge. We knew that definitely the underdogs going into the game. And they showed their class again tonight, with that batting performance.
“And then, everything kind of has to go well when you’re chasing 250. And losing the wickets in the Powerplay is always a challenge. I think that was the tale of the day, was the two power plays. I think we were three for 40 odd and they were 90 odd for none.”
Wasn’t our greatest effort on Sunday night: Santner
Santner said the well wishes his side had received from back home during the tournament had been exceptional and that it was always going to be a tough task playing in front of a crowd of almost 90,000 that were parochial in their support for the home team.
“It’s thanks to the fans back home for following us,” Santner continued.
“I might have to go to work obviously without a trophy today but we’ve obviously great support back home and we get great support here as well.
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“It was awesome to play in front of so many people tonight that obviously had a few blue shirts on and not many black shirts but again it’s always a great occasion and it’s always cool for us to play in front of so many people.
“It obviously wasn’t our greatest effort tonight as we came up against a very good team, but I am thanking the fans back home.”
Santner looks ahead to 2028 T20 World Cup at home
The Black Caps now turn their attention to next year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, while Santner is also looking forward to the 11th edition of the T20 World Cup that they will co-host alongside Australia in 2028.
“It’s probably quite far away that I think, so we will reflect as a group tonight, over the next few days of, I guess, this tournament and what it looked like,” Santner added.
“I think to make it to a final is obviously a pretty good effort from the boys and they should be very proud of their efforts throughout this tournament.
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“And then I guess the next kind of major events one day is in South Africa, like you said, it’s going to play slightly different to what we expect here.
“And then our next T20 World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand, so it’ll be nice to get a few fans and the crowd there in familiar conditions.
“That’s one of the hardest things is to win a World Cup in your country. So, for India to do that, this obviously comes with a lot of added pressure, home fans. So, for them to win this trophy tonight, they should be very proud of that.”
