New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner was immensely proud of his team's efforts at the T20 World Cup, but conceded they were outplayed by a great India team in the final.

India cruised to an emphatic 96-run victory on Sunday, becoming the first team to successfully defend the title.

They have now won the event three times, while they are also the first side to win the tournament as hosts.

India's margin of victory was the biggest in a T20 World Cup knockout game, while their score of 255-5 also broke a record for an elimination match in the competition.

New Zealand hammered South Africa in the semi-finals, but Santner conceded they never got close to India.

250+ - With 255/5 in today’s game, #TeamIndia have become the 2nd team to register three 250+ scores in a single T20 competition (also @SunRisers in IPL 2024); it is their 7th total of 250+ such scores in men’s T20’s, 2 more than next best – @SunRisers (5). Dominating. pic.twitter.com/JiMlStN5rY

— OptaJeev (@OptaJeev) March 8, 2026

"Proud of the boys to make it this far," he said.

"[We] had some challenges throughout the tournament. [In the final] we were outplayed by a very good team in front of a great crowd.

"Most games we play here, it's always a great crowd. Credit to India to win a title at home. It comes with a lot of pressure.

"Different guys stepped up [for us] at different times. Super Eights and semis we put on a good show but [in the final] we were outplayed. The boys should be proud."

Finn Allen and Tim Seifert were standout performers for New Zealand in the tournament.

They put on 494 runs as a pair, which set a new record for the most by a single partnership in one edition of the competition.

The previous record of 446 was set by Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in 2024.