In a breathtaking display of power hitting, New Zealand’s Finn Allen rewrote the record books with a devastating 33-ball century to crush South Africa by nine wickets in the T20 World Cup semi-final. The Black Caps’ spectacular chase of 170 runs was completed with a staggering 43 balls to spare, booking their place in Sunday’s final against yet-to-be-determined opponents.
Allen’s monumental innings, featuring 10 fours and 8 sixes, shattered the previous T20 World Cup record held by Chris Gayle (47 balls against England in 2016) by an incredible 14 deliveries. The 26-year-old’s blistering knock also equaled the third-fastest century in men’s T20 international history, demonstrating complete dominance from the moment he took strike.
The victory was set up by New Zealand’s bowlers who reduced South Africa to 77-5 before Marco Jansen’s rescue mission of 55 not out from 30 balls helped the Proteas post 169-8. However, this total proved grossly inadequate against Allen’s assault, particularly during the powerplay where New Zealand raced to 84-0 in just six overs.
Allen shared a 117-run opening partnership with Tim Seifert (58 off 33) before accelerating dramatically, smashing 42 runs from just 11 deliveries during his 56-run stand with Rachin Ravindra. The climax came when Allen hammered Jansen for five consecutive boundaries to seal the emphatic victory.
“I’m sure my parents were up watching the whole game. Hopefully they’re proud,” Allen said post-match. “It was an extremely impressive start from our bowlers. They set the game up for sure.”
The defeat marked another heartbreaking semi-final exit for South Africa, who entered the match as tournament favorites with an unbeaten record. Their top order collapsed early, with Quinton de Kock (10) and Ryan Rickelton (0) falling to consecutive deliveries in the second over, while Aiden Markram (18) and David Miller (6) failed to capitalize on dropped chances.
South African captain Temba Bavuma acknowledged Allen’s dominance: “Finn Allen is a nightmare for a captain. He only faced about four dot balls. Every other ball he was scoring. In areas where there were gaps, he was able to find them.”
The victory avenged New Zealand’s group stage loss to South Africa and sets up a potential final against either England or Australia. For South Africa, the defeat extends their unfortunate record in World Cup knockout matches, having now lost three of their four T20 World Cup semi-finals and four of their last five knockout games across formats.