Eden Gardens in Kolkata witnessed one of the greatest knocks in T20 history as New Zealand opener Finn Allen produced a breathtaking display against South Africa. Chasing 170 runs, Allen hammered the fastest century in T20 World Cup history, reaching his ton in just 33 balls. He toyed with the Proteas bowlers, striking boundaries all around the ground as they struggled for answers. His explosive innings powered New Zealand to the target in only 12.5 overs, sealing a dominant win and booking their place in the T20 World Cup 2026 final.
Allen’s opening partner Tim Seifert supported him perfectly, as the duo stitched a stand of 117 runs for the first wicket, which eventually sealed New Zealand’s fate. They went berserk in the middle but were also fortunate in the first couple of overs as several of their edges didn’t land in South Africa’s hands. The duo took advantage of that and set the tone to get the job done in a convincing manner.
“We wanted to start looking straight and obviously try and put them on the back foot early. I think it’s easy for me when Timmy’s (Seifert) going like that, I can kind of just watch and then hit it when it’s in my area and just try and give him the strike. So I think the way that he batted got us off to an absolute flyer. And yeah, I think like I said, we wanted to get strong positions, look straight and work the ball square off the length,” Allen said after being adjudged the Player of the Match.
Aiden Markram analyses South Africa’s defeat
South Africa coach Aiden Markram highlighted that the team struggled to decipher the pitch early on and losing quick wickets only resulted in mounting more pressure. He also credited Finn Allen for the speical knock and taking the game out of Proteas’ reach.
“I think you look at conditions early and they bowled really well up front. Ball didn’t quite feel like coming on, some were just stopping on the wicket and some where hitting quite low on the bat and they made scoring really tough and through that pressure builds and you lose wickets, unfortunately. So give credit to their bowling unit and obviously with the bat, someone plays an innings like that, don’t think you will come out on the right side of the result many times as a fielding team,” Markram said.
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