T20 World Cup: Finn Allen Scores Record Ton as New Zealand Storm Into Final

New ⁠Zealand stormed into the Twenty20 World Cup final ⁠with a nine-wicket demolition of South Africa in ⁠the first semifinal at the Eden Gardens.

Put into bat, South Africa recovered ‌from a precarious 77-5 to post a competitive 169-8 after Marco Jansen led their recovery with a belligerent 55 not ⁠out.

Finn Allen smashed an ⁠unbeaten 100 off 33 balls, however, and shared a 117-run ⁠opening stand with Tim Seifert (58) as ⁠New Zealand romped ⁠to their target in only 12.5 overs.

Allen’s achievement was the fastest century scored at a T20 cricket World Cup.

“We wanted to start well and put them on the back foot early,” Allen said. “It is easy for me when Tim [Seifert] is going like that. The way he batted got us off to an absolute flyer.

“It is easy in semifinals to stay up for the fight, and with Tim [Seifert] we keep each other in it, and we enjoy it out there together.”

- Author: Kevin Hand, Al Jazeera