Kamal Ghorui
New Zealand opener Finn Allen created history in Kolkata by smashing the fastest century ever in a T20 World Cup on Wednesday, powering New Zealand into the final with a crushing nine-wicket win over South Africa.Chasing 170 in the first semi-final, Allen went on a rampage, scoring an unbeaten 100 off just 33 balls.
His knock broke the previous World Cup record of 47 balls set by Chris Gayle. New Zealand chased down the target in just 12.5 overs, finishing the match with 7.1 overs to spare.After the game, Allen said: “Yeah I would say it’s up there. Wanted to get into good positions and hit the ball. Wanted to put them on the back foot early. The way Seifert batted and got us to a flier helped me as well. We wanted to hit straight and enjoyed it together. “You adapt to the wicket, training is important. The boys played a lot on the blacksoil pitches against India before the World Cup so that was good intel. We look forward to the final on Sunday.”Allen’s 33-ball hundred is now the fastest in T20 World Cups, the fastest against a full-member team in T20 internationals, and joint third-fastest in all T20Is.Earlier, South Africa posted 169/8 in 20 overs, with Marco Jansen top-scoring with 55. But their total proved nowhere near enough. Tim Seifert gave New Zealand a flying start with 58 off 33 balls, setting the stage for Allen’s record-breaking blitz.With this dominant performance, New Zealand stormed into the final in style.
