11.55pm SKY gives himself a few slaps as he walks up to the stage and receives the trophy from Jay Shah. The team begins the celebrations on the stage , taking turns to lift up the trophy as the fireworks begin. Well, the ones with the bat began with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, but these are the celebratory ones. Even Gautam Gambhir has an India jersey on, instead of his coach's gear, and yes, he is cracking a smile. The celebrations will go on long into the night, and maybe even for the next couple of days. And rightly so. One of the greatest T20 sides ever have lifted the World Cup. It's been a great final, at the end of a great tournament. That is all from us today. On behalf of Shashank, Raghav, Ranjith and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo, this is Abhimanyu signing off.

11.50pm And now the cheers are loudest as the Indian team line up to pick up the winners' medals. Starting with Jasprit Bumrah, who is of course a big draw when it comes to applause. "Dube, Dube" chants ring out as he walks up to take his medal. Ishan Kishan gets loud cheers too. And the loudest set of cheers go out now as Harsha Bhogle announces Hardik Pandya's name. Not too bad for Axar Patel either. But the cheers now get louder for Sanju Samson. Abhishek Sharma, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh get loud cheers too. And finally, Suryakumar Yadav walks up.

Suryakumar Yadav: "[Has it sunk in?] I think it'll take a little bit of time but definitely very happy. Been a long journey. Started post the 2024 World Cup. Jay Shah, Rohit bhai, they all showed faith in me and gave me opportunity to lead. From there it's been a long journey and coming here and winning it. We have been playing good cricket in the last two years and we just wanted to follow the good cricketing habits that we had in the 2024 World Cup. Boys took it really well. [On keeping faith in players] I think it's really important to understand what they are capable of. And I knew they had the match winners in them. The timing was perfect. Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma they are top players and we knew they would do something special, and they did it in the final. Bumrah is a once-in a generation bowler. I can call him a national treasure. He knows how it needs to be done, he is the best in the business."

11.45pm The New Zealand players line up receive their runners-up medals. Huge round of cheers ring out around the stadium. Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell get the loudest of cheers as they walk up. And of course, so does Mitch Santner.

Mitch Santner: "Proud of the boys to make it this far. Obviously we had some challenges throughout but at each stage we put up a good fight. Today we got outplayed by a great team in front of a great crowd. To see a big sea of blue, obviously India were home favourites. Playing a home World Cup comes with a lot of pressure. But yeah SKY and the boys should be very very proud. Different guys stood up at different stages. In the Super Eight and semi-finals we put up a good fight but tonight we were obviously outplayed."

The Indian players are out and about posing for photos and selfies. Kishan giving Axar a big hug. Siraj, Kishan and Tilak are wrapped in Indian flags. And now we are ready for the post-match presentation ceremony.

Hardik Pandya: "I have 10 more years left in me and I want to win 10 more ICC titles. That's my goal. [on winning at home and defending the title] It's quite emotional. Because winning the WC in India, the excitement of the people, it's amazing. The effort we have put in... From yesterday I knew we are champions. The only self belief I had was there was no other result. Losing wasn't a though. I am thankful for God. When I was bowling the 19th over against England, I was thinking about the 2024 World Cup final. I told Kishan and Abhishek also that when you go out to bat, think of good memories. [On Samson and Kishan] This is what life teaches you. When you work hard, try to be happy in others' happiness, God gives you opportunities. It's a learning for the whole nation. That when you stay quiet and work hard, God gives you opportunities. Really proud of them."

11.10pm A drone show is on as the sky lights up with an Indian flag. The captains will speak soon, followed by the trophy ceremony. Now the drones form an image of the World Cup trophy. As we wait for the captains, you can catch up on everything the India players had to say after the win here. And Andrew Miller's report is also up, if you want a recap of how India thumped New Zealand.

Mustafa Moudi : "Virat Kohli in 2024 and Abhishek Sharma in 2026... Both Saved their Best for the Final !!"

Jai: "Morne Morkel cry and agony against the NZ team in that 2015 WC semi final and now being a victorious team's bowling coach in final against the same team. Good for him."

Akash: "Those Samson innings. This series sums up his identity forever in the history which he and his fans were striving since eternity. "

Neil: "Sanju robbed from a third consecutive MoM? What do yall think?" - I think Bumrah should have got it against England, and Samson today. So, in overall count, I guess they are okay?

11pm Time for the presentation ceremony.

The Player of the Tournament, Sanju Samson: "Feels like a dream. Very happy and grateful. Out of words, out of emotions. [On his three fifties, thought process] To be honest, it started one-two years before. When I was in the 2024 World Cup team where I didn't play, I kept visualising, kept on working and this was exactly what I wanted to do. After the NZ series I was broken, my dreams were completely shattered. And I was thinking what can I do. But God had different plans. And I was rewarded for being brave enough to dream. A lot of former players have reached out to me and tried to help me out. For the last couple of months, I have been in constant contact with Sachin sir. I reached out to him and had big big conversations with him. Getting a guidance from someone like him, what more can you ask for? I am very grateful for everyone who supported me. [What more does he want to achieve?] This itself is very big for me, I want to enjoy it right now and then after a few day will figure out what more to do."

Jasprit Bumrah is the Player of the Match. Here's what he has to say: "[On what the win means] Feels extremely special because I've played one final in my home venue but couldn't win that one, but today I won. I knew wicket was a flat one so had to use all my experience. Before this tournament I was in that zone where I felt I was trying too hard because I was bowling well but felt I was trying too hard. This tournament I just tried to let the game come to me, and that worked really well. My individual assessment has always been my strength and getting MOTM at my home ground in a World Cup final, it doesn't get better than that. [On his slower balls] Because of the experience, because I've played on belters over here, and I have seen the other teams too, I learned that trying to bowl too fast can make shot-making easier. So just played smart, and tried to think of what the batsmen were trying to do. [On the bowling group] Whenever we discuss, they always come up with options. And when communication is needed we did that. We never panicked. Kept our heads above the water. Teams that do that win the tournament and I am very happy we did it.

Tilak Varma: "To be honest, we have prepared since last one and a half years. We have prepared to bat at any position for the team. We are up for it and in the right mindset to bat at any position. [The fielding] Actually when the team needs it the boys always stand up in the field. Today also I won't say it was the best fielding, but we took some good catches and end of the day I'm happy we won the final. Next couple of days will be a big party with the boys."

Arshdeep: "I just ran off to apologise to Mitchell. The ball reverse-swung when I threw it and it hit him. Right now it feels great but the emotions will sink in the next 2-4 days. This is a very good team with a lot of match-winners, and the result is cherry on the cake. As a bowler, our role is to restrict them to under 250 if we score 250 and when bowling first, it's just to restrict them to as little as possible."

Shivam Dube: "[On his role] It was always there to hit some big sixes. That was my role from the first day of the tournament. I always back myself and think that whenever I get opportunity, I'll hit some sixes. I have developed a lot, my bowling, but it didn't come off this tournament. Hopefully will do better in the future."

Abhishek Sharma: "The one thing was very clear, I wanted to share before as well, but today is the best day. The captain and coach had faith in me. Even I was doubting myself. I had never experienced this before, it was a tough tournament. I was just doing my process, trying to take it one game after another, but it wasn't easy. But I love this team because the way they backed me. It wasn't easy for me because going through the whole year i was doing well for the team, but in the big tournament I wasn't able to. But the faith the team and management showed in me. I got emotional in the middle of the tournament and wanted to talk to the coach and captain and they said you'll win us the big games. The crowd has supported us a lot even through tough times."

Washington: "Credit to all the support staff. They've been amazing. Amazing feeling for everyone to be part of this experience and I'm sure there's more to come."

Varun: "Feels amazing. back to back trophies. Feel very happy for Abhishek, he scored today. We used to keep chatting that what's happening, nothing is working out for us, but yeah now we've won the World Cup."

10.47pm India had built themselves up as T20 batting behemoths and that evolution has culminated in them playing the perfect T20 game in a World Cup final. And so, on the backs of devastating displays by Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan - all of who have fascinating narratives as to how they ended up playing this World Cup final - India become the first team to win three T20 World Cup titles, and the first to defend their title. It's a fitting end to the 2024-26 cycle, with the most dominant side in this period lifting the world title. After the scare that England gave them in the semi-finals, India's bowlers - led by Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel- did well to see out a convincing win. For New Zealand, who have tasted a lot of success in India in Tests and ODIs in the recent past, it was a bad day at the office today. Their bowling plans fell apart, and apart from Tim Seifert's fighting fifty, their batters never came close to giving India anything to worry about. They fall short in their fifth white-ball final in 11 years, and will go back with that empty-handed feeling they have grown to be familiar with.

Avinash: "A thought for Samson too, from not being in The first eleven to contributing in the quarter final(virtual), semi final and final of a world cup. Truly world class"

Can Bumrah finish it off this ball?

Vic: "@Rangadham - because resign would rob us of these exquisite pieces from Bumrah's arm!"

Nikhil declares : "Bumrah is my MOTS "