A brief history of the T20 World Cup:
Final: India def. Pakistan by 5 runs
Four years after England invented Twenty20 cricket, the first T20 World Cup (then World Twenty20) blasted off in the opening match where Chris Gayle scored the first international T20 century, 117 off 57 balls (10 sixes) and Zimbabwe upset Australia the next day. In the final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, India posted 157-5 on the back of Gautam Gambhir’s 75 from 54. Pakistan was on track until slowed by bowlers Irfan Pathan, RP Singh and Joginder Sharma. Pakistan needed six runs off the last four balls with one wicket left then Misbah-ul-Haq skied Sharma to Sreesanth at short fine leg.
Tournament MVP: Shahid Afridi, Pakistan
Final: Pakistan def. Sri Lanka by 8 wickets
In the group stage, the Netherlands beat England at Lord’s, and Australia was eliminated after two losses in two matches. The final pitted Pakistan against Sri Lanka, just three months after a dozen gunmen fired on the Sri Lanka cricket bus and match officials’ minivan in Lahore. Seven players were injured, and three of them played in the T20 final. Sri Lanka batted first at Lord’s and was soon 2-2 and 32-4. Kumar Sangakkara’s anchoring 64 helped them to 138-6. The chase was paced well and Shahid Afridi hit the winning leg bye in an unbeaten 54. They reached 139-2 with eight balls to spare and Pakistan won its first world title in 17 years.
Tournament MVP: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka
Final: England def. Australia by 7 wickets
Afghanistan made its debut in a major men’s event and didn’t win a match. Australia reached the final at Kensington Oval undefeated. England, without a first-round win, advanced on net run rate then swept its Super 8s group and semifinal. David Hussey rescued Australia from 8-3 with 59 in a 147-6. England made no race of the chase. Craig Kieswetter, 63 off 49, and Kevin Pietersen, 47 off 31, shared 111 for the second wicket. With three overs to spare, England won its first world title.
Tournament MVP: Kevin Pietersen, England
Final: West Indies def. Sri Lanka by 36 runs
New Zealander Brendon McCullum’s 123 off 58 balls against Bangladesh remains the highest score in tournament history. Sri Lanka beat the West Indies by nine wickets in the Super 8s. In the final in Colombo, Marlon Samuels’ 78 off 56 pegged West Indies to 137-6 from 87-5. Then they turned around and squeezed the home team. Samuels, Sunil Narine — 3-9 off 22 balls — Daren Sammy and Samuel Badree bowled a combined 13.4 overs, conceded 54 runs and took seven wickets. They celebrated by dancing ‘Gangnam Style’ on the field.
Tournament MVP: Shane Watson, Australia
Final: Sri Lanka def. India by 6 wickets
In the Super 10s, the Netherlands thrashed England. Sri Lanka ended the West Indies’ title defense in a rain-affected semifinal, then easily chased down India’s measly 130-4 in the final in Dhaka. India was propped up by Virat Kohli’s 77 off 58 until he was run out going for a second run. Kumar Sangakkara led Sri Lanka’s charge to 134-4 with 2.1 overs to spare with an unbeaten 52 off 35. He and Mahela Jayawardene, having lost two previous T20 finals, bowed out of T20 cricket as world champions.
Tournament MVP: Virat Kohli, India
Final: West Indies def. England by 4 wickets
Afghanistan successfully defended 123 against the West Indies but the latter advanced to the semifinals. The West Indies knocked out India in the semifinals with the highest successful run chase in playoff history. In the final at Eden Gardens, Joe Root’s 54 off 36 led England to 155-9. The Windies needed 19 runs off the last over bowled by Ben Stokes, and Carlos Braithwaite hit 6-6-6-6 to win the final with two balls to spare.
Tournament MVP: Virat Kohli, India
Final: Australia def. New Zealand by 8 wickets
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament to move from Australia to India to the UAE, and was delayed for a year. In the Super 12s, Pakistan beat India for the first time in 13 attempts in a 20-over or 50-over World Cup. The final in Dubai between unbeaten teams saw Kane Williamson’s 85 off 48 lead New Zealand to 172-4, the highest total in a final. Australia surpassed it with seven balls to spare thanks to David Warner’s 53 off 38 and Mitch Marsh’s unbeaten 77 off 50. Glenn Maxwell applied the coup de grace with a boundary past short third man for 173-2 and Australia’s first T20 crown.
Tournament MVP: David Warner, Australia
Final: England def. Pakistan by 5 wickets
In the preliminary round, the West Indies lost to Scotland and Ireland, and Sri Lanka lost to Namibia. There was more drama in the Super 12s: Ireland beat England, Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan, the Netherlands upset South Africa, and Australia’s title defense ended on net run rate after a 4-run win over Afghanistan. Pakistan, with two losses, reached the final. England crushed India by 10 wickets in the semifinals then restricted Pakistan to 137, Sam Curran taking 3-12. Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi went off injured in the final and England cruised to victory on Ben Stokes’ unbeaten maiden T20 half-century.
Tournament MVP: Sam Curran, England
Final: India def. South Africa by 7 runs.
The first major ICC World Cup tournament to have matches in the U.S. certainly gave the home team an extra boost. The fledgling U.S. team opened with a seven-wicket win over Canada and then stunned Pakistan with a shocking upset in a so-called “Super Over” tiebreaker after the match finished with both teams posting totals of 159. The Americans placed second behind India in Group A and advanced to the Super Eights round, where they were beaten along with the co-host West Indies. Afghanistan upset Australia in the Super Eights to advance with India to the semifinals but lost in a lopsided contest against South Africa. India held off South Africa in the final to become the first team to go through the T20 world tournament undefeated.
Tournament MVP: Jasprit Bumrah, India
AP T20 World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
India's Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the dismissal of New Zealand's captain Mitchell Santner during the third T20 cricket match between India and New Zealand in Guwahati, India, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Iran and the United States stood poised Friday to hold negotiations in Oman at least over Tehran's nuclear program after a chaotic week that initially saw plans for regional countries to take part in talks in Turkey.
The two countries have returned to Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, months after rounds of meetings turned to ash following Israel's launch of a 12-day war against Iran back in June. The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel's attacks decimated Iran's air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile arsenal as well.
U.S. officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio believe Iran's theocracy is now at its weakest point since its 1979 Islamic Revolution after nationwide protests last month represented the greatest challenge to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule. Khamenei's forces responded with a bloody crackdown that killed thousands and reportedly saw tens of thousands arrested — and spurred new military threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to target the country.
With the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships in the region along with more fighter jets, the U.S. now likely has the military firepower to launch an attack if it wanted. But whether attacks could be enough to force Iran to change its ways — or potentially topple its government — remains far from a sure thing.
Meanwhile, Gulf Arab nations fear an attack could spark a regional war dragging them in as well. That threat is real — already, U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone near the Lincoln and Iran attempted to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“President Trump seeks to corner Iran into reaching a negotiated solution, strong-arming its leaders into making concessions on the nuclear deal,” said Alissa Pavia, a fellow at the Atlantic Council. “The Iranians, on the other hand, are weakened after years of proxy warfare, economic crisis, and internal unrest. Trump is aware of this vulnerability and is hoping to use it to extract concessions and make inroads toward a renewed nuclear agreement.”
The scope, nature and participants in the talks remain unclear, just hours before they were due to begin in Muscat, the Omani capital nestled in the Hajar Mountains. Officials at Oman's borders on Thursday showed particular concern over anyone carrying cameras into the sultanate before the negotiations.
On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived at night along with multiple Iranian diplomats, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Flight-tracking data showed the plane that carried him to Muscat initially started its journey from Tabas, Iran, the site of the disastrous Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, when a U.S. Special Forces mission attempted to rescue hostages held after the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. A sandstorm in Tabas aborted the mission and eight service members died when a helicopter crashed into a C-120 refueling aircraft there. Iran's theocracy long has portrayed the mission as God defeating the Americans.
Araghchi wrote on X that “Iran enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.”
“Commitments need to be honored,” he wrote. “Equal standing, mutual respect and mutual interest are not rhetoric — they are a must and the pillars of a durable agreement.”
Ahead of the meeting, a top adviser to Khamenei appeared to offer the theocracy's support to the 63-year-old career diplomat.
Araghchi “is a skilled, strategic and trustworthy negotiator at the highest levels of decision-making and military intelligence,” Ali Shamkhani wrote on X. “Soldiers of the nation in the armed forces & generals of diplomacy, acting under the order of the Leader, will safeguard the nation’s interests.”
On the U.S. side, it appeared that talks would be led by U.S. Mideast special envoy Steve Witkoff, a 68-year-old billionaire New York real estate mogul and longtime friend to Trump. Traveling with Witkoff on his Mideast trip so far is Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who in recent weeks has shared proposals for the Gaza Strip and took part in trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi earlier on the trip.
The two men had traveled from Abu Dhabi to Qatar on Thursday night for meetings with officials there, the Qatari-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera reported. Qatar, which shares an offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf with Iran, also hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked back in the June war.
It remains unclear just what terms Iran will be willing to negotiate at the talks. Tehran has maintained that these talks only will be on its nuclear program. However, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country and pledge “not initiate the use of ballistic missiles.”
Russia had signaled it would take the uranium, but Shamkhani in an interview earlier this week had said ending the program or shipping out the uranium were nonstarters for the country. Meanwhile, the talks would not include any pledge by Iran over its self-described “Axis of Resistance,” a network of militias in the region allied to Tehran as a deterrent to both Israel and the U.S. However, Israeli attacks on the militias during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip decimated the network.
Rubio, America's top diplomat, said talks needed to include all those issues.
“I think in order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles,” Rubio told journalists Wednesday. “That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. That includes the nuclear program, and that includes the treatment of their own people.”
The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, shakes hands with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi during their meeting prior to Iran and the U.S. negotiations, in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
FILE - White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff speaks at an event in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert,File)
FILE - In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, is welcomed by an unidentified Omani official, center, upon his arrival at Muscat, Oman, for negotiations with U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, as Iranian Ambassador to Oman Mousa Farhang walks at right, May 11, 2025. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP, File)
People attend a state-organised rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, celebrating the birthday of Imam Mahdi, or "Hidden Imam," a 9th-century saint whom Shiite Muslims believe will return at the end of time as a universal reformer to end tyranny and promote justice. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People attend a state-organised rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, celebrating the birthday of Imam Mahdi, or "Hidden Imam," a 9th-century saint whom Shiite Muslims believe will return at the end of time as a universal reformer to end tyranny and promote justice. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE - This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, on March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
