New Zealand Reach Final After Allen Storm Destroys South Africa in Semi-Final

New Zealand national cricket team reached the final after crushing South Africa by 9 wickets in a one-sided semi-final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. South Africa had reached the last four as the only unbeaten team of the tournament, but on the knockout stage they seemed to lose all rhythm. Chasing a target of 170 runs, the Kiwis got there in just 12.5 overs, with 43 balls to spare.

The hero of the victory was opener Finn Allen. With an unbeaten innings of exactly 100 runs from 33 balls, he set the record for the fastest century in T20 World Cup history. Decorated with 10 fours and 8 sixes, his strike rate in the innings was 303.03. This was the first century in a knockout match in World Cup history. At the same time, it is jointly the third fastest hundred in international T20 cricket. After playing 17 matches in the World Cup, Allen also won the Player of the Match award for the first time.

Winning the toss and choosing to bowl, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner grabbed control of the match right from the start. In the second over, off-spinner Cole McConchie struck twice to send Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton back to the pavilion. With a mix of spin and seam in the middle overs, the Proteas came under pressure and lost 5 wickets for 77 runs.

From there, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen tried to rebuild the innings. Jansen remained unbeaten on 55 off 30 balls, while Stubbs scored 29. Even though 169/8 looked like a competitive total on a batting-friendly pitch, in the dew-laden night it proved insufficient.

In the chase, Allen’s partner was Tim Seifert. The two openers scored 84 runs without loss in the first 6 overs, which is the highest powerplay total in T20 World Cup knockout history. Their opening stand of 117 runs from 55 balls almost sealed the match. Seifert returned after scoring 58 from 33 balls, but Allen remained unbeaten till the end.

In the ongoing tournament, the Allen–Seifert pair has scored a total of 463 runs, which is the highest for any partnership in a single T20 World Cup edition. Across any international T20 series or tournament, this is also a new record. After crossing the milestone of 1,000 runs together, their partnership run rate of 10.95 is the best among all pairs to have crossed that mark.

Allen’s 19-ball fifty is the fastest in a World Cup knockout match. He now also holds New Zealand’s fastest century in the World Cup. He has also placed his name among the fastest T20 hundreds among full-member nations. His 18 boundaries in a single match (10 fours, 8 sixes) is jointly a World Cup record; 88 runs from boundaries is also jointly the highest. In this tournament he has hit 20 sixes, making him the first batsman to reach such a feat in a single World Cup.

After the loss, captain Aiden Markram said, “Very disappointed… we needed 190 to stay in the contest.” Coach Conrad avoided the word “choking” and said, “Today we were simply crushed — we received a ‘snotklap’.” According to him, the team simply did not produce a performance good enough to survive a knockout match.

The Kiwis still remember their loss in the 2021 final. This time they are just one win away from the title. In the final at Ahmedabad, their opponent will be either India or England. With their dominant performance in the semi-final, New Zealand have clearly sent a message: they are ready for the title.