Kamal Ghorui
Finn Allen produced a sensational knock to register his maiden IPL century during Match 51 against Delhi Capitals, joining an elite list of century-makers for Kolkata Knight Riders alongside Brendon McCullum and Sunil Narine.Batting first, Delhi Capitals managed to post 142 runs on the board. In reply, KKR were powered by a breathtaking innings from Allen, who remained unbeaten on 100 off just 47 deliveries. His explosive knock, combined with a handy cameo from Cameron Green (33), guided Kolkata to a dominant victory.Finn Allen became only the fourth KKR batter in 19 seasons of IPL history to score a century .
Hundreds for KKR in IPL:
- 158* (73) – Brendon McCullum vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2008
- 104 (51) – Venkatesh Iyer vs MI, Wankhede, 2023
- 109 (56) – Sunil Narine vs RR, Kolkata, 2024
- 100* (47) – Finn Allen vs DC, Delhi, 2026
During his stunning innings, Allen smashed 10 sixes, moving into third place on KKR’s list for most sixes in a single IPL innings. Russell sits second with 11 sixes, while McCullum still tops the chart with 13 sixes from his iconic 158* in the inaugural IPL match in 2008.After being named Player of the Match, Allen reflected on his innings and explained that he focused on batting responsibly after KKR lost a couple of early wickets.“What I’ve been working on is trying to have more strings to my bow. We obviously lost a couple of early wickets, so I just tried to take a bit of responsibility and get a win on the board for the boys,” Allen said during the post-match presentation.He also admitted that the pitch was challenging initially and praised Axar Patel for his disciplined bowling spell.“It was still a little bit challenging at the start. Axar bowled really well and restricted us. So I just tried to get into strong positions and bat deep,” he added.
