India and New Zealand have never faced each other in a T20 World Cup final

In a close battle versus England, the Men in Blue had the last laugh as they reached the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 final. On Sunday evening, India will face New Zealand, who whooped South Africa in the semi-final and made it to the last stage of the tournament. The Sunday clash will be the first time that India and New Zealand will face each other in a T20 World Cup. However, the two sides have played three finals against each other in other tournaments and formats.

Before the Sunday clash, let's review those previous finals and their results.

ICC KnockOut Trophy

The ICC Champions Trophy we know today was once known as the ICC KnockOut Trophy, and in 2000, India and New Zealand had played the final match against each other. Played in the one-day format, India batted first, with former skipper Sourav Ganguly hitting 117 runs, whereas Sachin Tendulkar made 69 runs. The duo helped India post a target of 264 runs.

25 years on, same stage, same opposition.

Ahead of Sunday's @ICC Champions Trophy Final against India in Dubai, we look back on the story of the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy Final in Nairobi, Kenya #ChampionsTrophy #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/NeHmlC7Gnw

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 7, 2025

In response, Chris Cairns and Chris Harris took the game away from India, hitting 102 runs and 46 runs, respectively, despite getting into bat at the middle and lower order. New Zealand won the game by four wickets and two balls to spare.

ICC World Test Championship

New Zealand took 45 Test matches to register their first-ever Test win, the most by any team.

Now they are the first side to win a World Test Championship final 🤩 pic.twitter.com/sIfM2usv9m

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 24, 2021

Five years ago, the two sides met in the ICC World Test Championship final at Southampton. India’s batting performance was weak, scoring 217 runs and 170 runs in two innings, which were easily defeated by the Kiwis, who won the game by eight wickets. Kyle Jamieson was awarded Player of the Match for his bowling figures of 5/31 and 2/30.

ICC Champions Trophy

Last year, India and New Zealand had met each other in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. The Kiwis posted a target of 251 runs, with 63 runs coming off Daryl Mitchell’s willow, whereas down the order, Michael Bracewell added 53 runs off 40 balls.

𝗖. 𝗛. 𝗔. 𝗠. 𝗣. 𝗜. 𝗢. 𝗡. 𝗦! 🇮🇳🏆 🏆

The Rohit Sharma-led #TeamIndia as ICC #ChampionsTrophy 2025 𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙉𝙀𝙍𝙎 👏 🔥

Take A Bow! 🙌 @ImRo45 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/12ANQPHoHb

— KᴀLYᴀη 𝟰𝟱 (@iamPawanKalyan_) March 9, 2025

In response, India’s former skipper Rohit Sharma played a captain’s knock, scoring 76 runs in 83 balls, followed by 48 runs from Shreyas Iyer and 34 runs from KL Rahul. Through a collective effort, India cruised past the needed target and won the game in the 49th over with four wickets in hand.

In short, when it comes to ICC finals between India and New Zealand, the Kiwis have an upper hand – will they continue to dominate, or will India equalise with back-to-back T20 World Cup trophies?