A solid century from Finn Allen set up New Zealand’s comfortable 9-wicket victory against South Africa in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2026, played at Eden Gardens.
He brought up his century in 33 deliveries, which is the fastest in the T20 World Cup century and joint third fastest in all T20Is. With this win, New Zealand has stormed into the finals.
After invited to bat first, South Africa openers Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock opened the innings while Matt Henry opened the bowling attack.
Cole McConchie bagged the wickets of Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton for 10 and 0, respectively. A partnership from Aiden Markram and Dewald Brevis helped South Africa to post 48 runs in the powerplay.
With Rachin Ravindra dismissing Aiden Markram for 18 runs, South Africa lost three wickets for 55 runs. After David Miller’s dismissal for 6 runs, Dewald Brevis lost his wicket to James Neesham for 34 runs.
Group stage exit in 2024 ❌
Finalists in 2026 😎The Black Caps have their #T20WorldCup redemption moment 🤩 pic.twitter.com/r1hNLgW6Yp
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) March 4, 2026
With the duo’s dismissal, South Africa lost 5 wickets for 77 runs. However, a solid partnership from Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen helped South Africa to recover from the early collapse.
Soon after Stubbs’ dismissal for 29 runs, Marcon Jansen smashed a fifty. Matt Henry picked the wickets of Corbin Bosch and Kagiso Rabada. South Africa scored 169 runs in their 20-over innings.
Marco Jansen remained unbeaten with 55 runs off 30 deliveries. Rachin Ravindra, Matt Henry and Cole McConchie bagged two wickets each, while Lockie Ferguson and James Neesham bagged one wicket each.
Chasing 170 run target, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen opened the innings while Marcon Jansen opened the bowling attack.
The opening duo made a solid start, scoring 84 runs in the powerplay. With both going on to score fifties, Rabada brought the breakthrough, dismissing Seifert for 58 runs. However, Finn Allen continued his on-field slaughter, smashing 100 in 33 deliveries and completing the chase along with Rachin Ravindra.
Finn Allen was named as the Player of the Match. Speaking on the post-match conference, 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,” concluded Finn Allen.
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