Finn Allen’s 33-ball blitz fires New Zealand into World Cup final
By Nawaz Gohar ; In a display of sheer batting violence that left the Eden Gardens crowd breathless, New Zealand ended South Africa’s unbeaten run with a ruthless nine-wicket victory.
Driven by a historic century from Finn Allen, the Black Caps secured their place in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 final with 43 balls to spare, turning a high-stakes semi-final into a one-sided masterclass.
Chasing a target of 170, the Black Caps made a mockery of South Africa’s world-class bowling attack. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert unleashed a calculated assault from the first delivery, stitching together a 117-run opening stand in just nine overs.
Seifert played the perfect foil, punishing anything loose to reach a brisk 58 off 33 balls before falling to Kagiso Rabada. However, the dismissal provided no respite for the Proteas. Allen continued his rampage, reaching his third T20I century on the final blow of the match—a boundary off Marco Jansen in the 13th over.
His unbeaten 100 off 33 balls, featuring 10 boundaries and 8 towering sixes, will go down as one of the greatest knockout innings in tournament history.
Earlier, the Proteas found themselves in a nightmare scenario after being put in to bat. New Zealand’s new-ball pair of Matt Henry and Cole McConchie exploited the conditions perfectly, removing Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton within the second over.
The middle order struggled to find momentum as Rachin Ravindra’s spin choked the scoring rate. Ravindra removed the dangerous Aiden Markram (18) and David Miller (6) in quick succession, while James Neesham accounted for Dewald Brevis (34), leaving South Africa reeling at 77/5.
A spirited counter-attack by Marco Jansen breathed life back into the South African innings. Jansen struck a fierce unbeaten 55 off 30 balls, clearing the ropes five times. Alongside Tristan Stubbs (29), Jansen helped propel the score to a respectable 169/8, but the total ultimately proved to be a mere speed bump for the rampant Kiwis.
New Zealand’s disciplined bowling unit shared the spoils, with McConchie, Henry, and Ravindra each claiming two wickets to set the stage for the Allen show.
Match Summary:
New Zealand 172/1 in 12.5 overs (Allen 100*, Seifert 58; Rabada 1/31) beat South Africa 169/8 in 20 overs (Jansen 55*, Brevis 34; Ravindra 2/11, Henry 2/24) by 9 wickets.
