Finn Allen, the semi-final hero, described New Zealand’s decisive victory over South Africa as a “huge confidence booster” before they aim to capture their first T20 World Cup title on Sunday.
Opener Allen scored the fastest-ever T20 World Cup century off 33 balls to help his team defeat South Africa by nine wickets and advance to Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad against either India or England.
At Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, Allen hit ten fours and eight sixes as New Zealand quickly reached their victory mark of 170 with 7.1 overs to spare, as South Africa, the tournament’s runners-up in 2024, suffered a devastating loss.
“They fight hard, they come hard at us, they’ve got good tall, fast bowlers and it makes it challenging for us. Their boys hit the ball hard, so to get one over them is a huge confidence booster for us going into Sunday. They’ve been the in-form team the whole tournament,” AFP quoted Allen as saying.
With the exception of his undefeated 84 against the UAE in a group match, Allen, who was born in Auckland, had mediocre tournament performances before rising to the occasion in the knockout round. Allen claimed that his heroics in India would have kept his parents and the country awake to support the squad.
“I’m sure my parents are up watching the whole game. Hopefully they’re proud. But I think as a nation, I think hopefully everyone gets behind us and rallies around us for Sunday,” said Allen.
The final will start at about 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning in New Zealand.
“Obviously, difficult time for people to watch back home but I’m sure people were keeping tabs on the game and hopefully they can get up and have a Monday off at work and watch the final,” Allen said.
Together with opening partner Tim Seifert, who scored 58, Allen put up a 117-run stand to crush the opposition attack, which featured excellent pacemen Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.
Before Allen gained control and concluded with two fours, two sixes, and a four to increase his hundred and seal victory, Seifert was the early aggressor, racing to 41 off 21 balls. Batting with Seifert, according to Allen, makes life simple.
“He’s in incredible form, he’s an incredible player and I think he’s just showing the world what he can do. And I think that makes it easy for me to sit back and have the best seat in the house. So, yeah, it’s good fun batting with Timmy,” said Allen.
In the group stage, New Zealand lost to South Africa by seven wickets but managed to advance to the semi-finals on net run-rate ahead of Pakistan. However, Allen claimed that the visitors’ five-match T20 series in India, which they lost 1-4 before the T20 World Cup, prepared them for the grind.
“I think it shows the importance of that India series that the boys played before the World Cup. Five games on all black soil (pitches) and I think it just shows that as a team we get up for the fight (in) those important fixtures,” he said.
