Ahmedabad, March 8 New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said his underdog team was outplayed by a strong team in the T20 World Cup final after India secured a massive 96-run victory to defend the trophy here on Sunday.
India became the first team to win three world titles in the shortest format after securing the trophy in 2007 and 2024.
"Obviously, tonight, we were outplayed by a great team in front of a great crowd," Santner said in the post-match presentation.
Santner won the toss and put India in to bat. The home side raced to a record 255/5 in their 20 overs before bowling out the Black Caps for 159.
"It was a pretty good wicket throughout. If we had gotten a couple of wickets in the powerplay and kept India's total to 220, it could have been a good chase," Santner rued.
"Losing a series of finals isn't ideal. India is always a challenge. We were the underdogs," he added.
Santner, who walked in to a rousing applause from the large crowd here, congratulated India for a dominant campaign.
"...credit to India for winning a title at home, it always comes with a lot of pressure. And I think, SKY (India captain Suryakumar Yadav) and the boys should be very proud of their work," he said.
