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ICC T20 World Cup: New Zealand in the final due to Finn’s fastest century, South Africa out as the unbeaten sequence is broken.

By Samira Vishwas

Kolkata, March 4. Opener Finn Allen not only opened the way for New Zealand’s one-sided victory with his fastest century in the ICC T20 World Cup cricket tournament (100 not out, 33 balls, eight sixes, 10 fours) but also broke South Africa’s unbeaten sequence in the current edition. In this sequence, the Kiwis booked themselves a ticket to the final by defeating the Proteas by nine wickets with 43 balls remaining in the first semi-final played here on Wednesday night.

Proteas had reached 169 runs with the help of Marco Yansen and Stubbs.

South Africa, forced to bat first at Eden Gardens, after losing five wickets at 77 in the 11th over, reached 169 runs for eight wickets in the slog overs with the help of Marco Jansen (55 not out, 30 balls, five sixes, two fours) and Tristan Stubbs (29 runs, 24 balls, one six, two fours).

Finn and Seifert scored 117 runs in 55 balls.

But the Kiwi openers dwarfed this target with their explosive batting. Finn and Tim Seifert (58 runs, 33 balls, two sixes, seven fours) gave a tough test to the opposition bowlers and made an explosive partnership of 117 runs in just 55 balls.

After that, ‘Player of the Match’ Finn, in the presence of Rachin Ravindra (13 not out, 11 balls, two fours), gave the floor to New Zealand with an unbroken 56-run partnership in 22 balls, which scored 173 runs for one wicket in 12.5 overs.

score card

Interestingly, New Zealand broke the unbeaten streak of South Africa, against whom it had been losing in five T20 World Cup meetings since 2007. Mitchell Santner & Company will now have a title clash with the winning team of the India vs England semi-final, which is to be played in Mumbai on Thursday, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 8.

McConkie spoils South Africa’s start

Talking about South African batting, Cole McConkie (2-9) spoiled the start, who dismissed Quinton de Kock (10 runs, eight balls, one six, one four) and Ryan Rickelton (0) in the very second over of the innings. On the other hand, Rachin Ravindra (2-29) bid farewell to captain Aiden Markram (18 runs, 20 balls, one six, one four) and David Miller (6 runs) in consecutive overs (eighth and tenth) (4-77).

Yansen and Stubbs added 73 runs on 48 balls for the sixth wicket.

Two balls later, on the same score, the team’s second highest scorer Dewald Brewis (34 runs, 27 balls, two sixes, three fours) also fell victim to James Neesham (1-42). However, after this, Stubbs and Yansen added 73 runs in 48 balls for the sixth wicket and gave the team a score worth fighting for. But Finn and his fellow batsmen proved this to be inadequate.

thursday match : Second semi-final – India vs England (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai) 7 pm.

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