Context : Among type IIP supernovae there are a few events that resemble the well-studied supernova 1987A produced by the blue supergiant in the Large Magellanic Cloud .

Aims : We study a peculiar supernova 2000cb and compare it with the supernova 1987A .

Methods : We carried out hydrodynamic simulations of the supernova in an extended parameter space to describe its light curve and spectroscopic data .
The hydrogen H \alpha and H \beta lines are modeled using a time-dependent approach .

Results : We constructed the hydrodynamic model by fitting the photometric and spectroscopic observations .
We infer a presupernova radius of 35 \pm 14 R _ { \sun } , an ejecta mass of 22.3 \pm 1 M _ { \sun } , an explosion energy of ( 4.4 \pm 0.3 ) \times 10 ^ { 51 } erg , and a radioactive ^ { 56 } Ni mass of 0.083 \pm 0.039 M _ { \sun } .
The estimated progenitor mass on the main sequence lies in the range of 24 - 28 M _ { \sun } .
The early H \alpha profile on Day 7 is consistent with the density distribution found from hydrodynamic modeling , while the H \alpha line on Day 40 indicates an extended ^ { 56 } Ni mixing up to a velocity of 8400 km s ^ { -1 } .
We emphasize that the dome-like light curves of both supernova 2000cb and supernova 1987A are entirely powered by radioactive decay .
This is unlike normal type IIP supernovae , the plateau of which is dominated by the internal energy deposited after the shock wave propagation through the presupernova .
We find signatures of the explosion asymmetry in the photospheric and nebular spectra .

Conclusions : The explosion energy of supernova 2000cb is higher by a factor of three compared to supernova 1987A , which poses a serious problem for explosion mechanisms of type IIP supernovae .