'Special achievement': Mason Mount after guiding England to win over Belgium

Several European heavyweights delivered commanding performances as the Round of 16 first-leg matches of the UEFA Champions League produced high-scoring contests and dramatic finishes across Europe this week.

India topped Group A with an unbeaten record, though they suffered a setback in the Super Eight stage, losing to South Africa by 76 runs. The Men in Blue bounced back in style, defeating West Indies in a virtual quarter-final, England in the semi-final, and ultimately New Zealand in the final.

Sanju Samson's 89 off 46 balls helped India post a mammoth 254 in the first innings. He was the top scorer by anyone in the match. Notably, it was his third successive fifty and a match-defining innings from Samson's bat. He also scored an unbeaten 97 in a do-or-die Super 8s clash against West Indies and then scored 89 against England in the semifinals.

India made history by defending their T20 World Cup title, defeating New Zealand by a whopping 96 runs in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

From 46 runs in those five horrific innings against New Zealand to being dropped from the team in favour of Ishan Kishan, Sanju has scripted a fairytale comeback that was unexpected by perhaps even his die-hard fans had not expected. After two quick starts against Namibia and Zimbabwe, Sanju saved his best for all the high-stakes matches. From 97* against West Indies in the virtual quarterfinal for the final semifinal spot, to 89 against England and another 89 against New Zealand in semifinals and finals, Sanju left everyone mesmerised with his clean hitting and silenced every bit of trolling, criticism about his poor run and inconsistency, at least for a very long while to come.