Heartbroken to heart-breakers? Kiwis desperate to flip script

New Zealand's cricket men have had more than their fair share of ending up crestfallen after falling short in World Cup finals, so now captain Mitch Santner fancies it's time to see them "break a few hearts" for once.

Actually, when he says "a few", he's probably talking about a billion hearts as his unsung but invariably excellent side attempt to confound all the odds in Sunday's T20 World Cup final against co-hosts India in front of 100,000-plus fans at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.

And Santner knows only too well it can be done, as Pat Cummins' Australia showed everyone the way when they shut out the noise and spoiled the party, hammering India by six wickets in the 50-over World Cup final in the same arena two-and-a-half years ago. 

"I guess that's the goal isn't it - to silence the crowd," shrugged the ever unflappable Santner in his eve-of-final press conference on Saturday.

"But I think that there is a lot of variables in T20 cricket and it is fickle at times. We've seen throughout the whole World Cup that a lot of teams are on similar pages and it comes down to some little moments in every game that changes the outcome."

In three World Cup white-ball finals over the past 11 years, New Zealand have come off worst in those 'little moments', losing two 50-over showdowns and also in the 2021 T20 event in Dubai. 

The 50-over final at Lord's in 2019 was the Black Caps' lowlight, as they got absolutely no luck before succumbing to English cricket's 'champagne Super Over'. After the match had effectively been tied twice, New Zealand eventually lost because they hit fewer boundaries over the match.

The boundary count-back tiebreaker has since been replaced after backlash, with subsequent Super Overs to follow if the first Super Over is tied.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once," smiled Santner, who played in that match.

"Everyone knows we're probably not the favourites, but we don't mind. We know if we do our little things well and put in a strong team performance, it can put us in a pretty good position to hopefully lift the trophy."

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav promised his defending champions, seeking a third title for India, were ready to deal with all the suffocating expectation.

"There is pressure, I cannot deny that," he shrugged. "But there is excitement too - playing another World Cup final and on home soil.

"There will be butterflies in the stomach but, as I always say, where there is no pressure, no fun. I am sure the whole of India is excited for tomorrow."

2026 Men's T20 World Cup knockout stage

Semi-final 1: New Zealand beat South Africa by nine wickets (Thursday, 12.30am AEDT)

Semi-final 2: India beat England by seven runs (Friday, 12.30am AEDT)

Final: India v New Zealand, Ahmedabad (Monday, 12.30am AEDT)

All matches broadcast on Amazon's Prime Video