India flatten New Zealand to clinch T20 World Cup in record-breaking tournament

MUMBAI: India did not merely win the T20 World Cup. They demolished their opposition. A hapless New Zealand, thrashed by 96 runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad — packed to its 120,000-capacity rafters — were left shellshocked as captain Suryakumar Yadav lifted the ICC Trophy aloft to a roar that seemed to shake the sub-continent itself.

It was, by any measure, a rout. New Zealand had no answers. India had all of them.

Off the field, the numbers were just as staggering. The tournament, co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India, drew an attendance of 1.2m across its various venues — a record for any World Cup competition. Harsha Bhogle, cricket’s most mellifluous voice, announced the milestone during the presentation ceremony with the relish of a man who knew he was narrating history.

The digital stands were even more heaving. JioHotstar, the tournament’s streaming partner, clocked 72 million concurrent streams during the competition. The final alone racked up 800m views on the platform — a number that makes most streaming executives weep with envy and most advertisers reach instinctively for their chequebooks.

Cricket, it turns out, does not merely survive on the sub-continent. It swallows it whole.

For New Zealand, there is the long flight home and the longer memory of a mauling. For India, there is a trophy, a record, and the certain knowledge that when it comes to T20 cricket, they are not just the best team in the world — they are in a different game entirely.