India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson continued his stellar form with another record-breaking fifty in the IND vs NZ T20 World Cup 2026 Final today (March 8). The dynamic right-hander reached his half-century off just 33 balls, and in the process, slammed three consecutive fifties at the ICC event.
Samson had earlier smashed an unbeaten 97* against West Indies in the must-win Super 8 game and then a match-winning 89 against England in the semifinal.
His third fifty-plus score in the tournament now places the 31-year-old in an elite list with only two other players who have ever achieved the feat. Sanju Samson is now the third player to slam consecutive fifties in semis and final of a T20 World Cup, with former India skipper Virat Kohli and legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi completing the milestone in 2014 and 2009 respectively.
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Speaking about the IND vs NZ match, explosive India openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma finally combined brilliantly to produce a quickfire 98-run opening stand and build the platform for a big total. The duo’s aggressive batting also propelled India to the highest-ever powerplay score in a T20 World Cup – 92/0 after the first six overs.
Both batters eventually completed their fifties as well, with Abhishek Sharma slamming the joint second-fastest fifty for India in a T20 World Cup off 18 balls alongside KL Rahul. While Abhishek had to depart on 51, Sanju Samson continued his carnage but once again fell shy of a century, on 89. Nevertheless, the opening pair’s blitzkrieg did enough damage and left the Kiwi bowlers clueless, with India crossing the 200-run mark as quickly as the 15th over.
At the time of writing this report, the Indian scoreboard reads 219/4 in 17. overs with Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma currently batting in the middle.
India will hope to pile up as much as they can since the odds are stacked against them with a 0-3 head-to-head record opposite New Zealand in T20 World Cup encounters.
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