New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner hailed Finn Allen’s “special”, match-winning century in their T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa, while the Proteas captain cursed another “bad night” in a knockout match at a major tournament.
Allen tonked exactly 100 not out off 33 balls, with both New Zealand’s victory target of 170 and his own ton ticked off in the 13th over as he plundered 24 from the first five balls of Marco Jansen’s set.
Jansen had earlier cracked an unbeaten 55 off 30 balls to rescue South Africa somewhat from 77-5 just after the halfway point of their innings – but a score of 169-8 on an Eden Gardens track that is notorious for favouring chasing teams was never likely to be enough, and so it proved.
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Watch Finn Allen hit the fastest hundred in the T20 World Cup, as New Zealand beat South Africa to reach the final!
“There is a distinct advantage for batting second,” former India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast ahead of the first semi-final in Kolkata.
“The moment the toss is done, you could almost say it becomes a 70-30 game. There is a proper effect of dew [in the second innings].”
South Africa, therefore, must have already been cursing their luck when the toss went Santner’s way and New Zealand jumped at the chance to chase.
Markram spoke of his pride at his side’s showing in the tournament – the only unbeaten side going into the semi-finals – but pointedly said “you’ve got to look at conditions” when searching for answers for his side’s nine-wicket drubbing at the post-match presentation.
“They [New Zealand] bowled really well up front – the ball didn’t feel like it was coming on, some were stopping in the wicket, which made scoring really tough,” Markram said.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram presided over another knockout defeat at a major tournament
“The pressure then builds and you lose wickets, unfortunately. You’ve got to give credit to their bowling unit.
“To get up to 170 was a great effort, to be fair, and at the halfway point we felt like we had a sniff. But then someone plays an innings like that [Allen’s].
“Massive credit to his knock and Tim Seifert’s knock, to kill the game as early as they did. Unfortunately it was just a bad night for us tonight.”
Finn Allen hit the fastest Men’s T20 World Cup hundred in New Zealand’s semi-final win over South Africa
It was the wrong time, again, for South Africa to have a bad night. The Proteas are still to win an World Cup, in either the 50-over or T20 formats, with five semi-final exits coming in the former (along with two quarter-final defeats), and three in the latter, as well as a runners-up finish two years ago.
New Zealand, in particular, have proven to be their nemesis, beating them for the fourth time in succession in a knockout match at an ICC event – after the 2011 50-over World Cup semi-final, 2015 quarter-final and last year’s Champions Trophy semi, a tournament South Africa admittedly did win the inaugural version of in 1998.
Allen’s sensational century ensured South Africa’s wait for another global triumph will tick on until at least 2027, when they host the next 50-over World Cup, while its New Zealand who instead move on to Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad.
There, the Black Caps are chasing their own bit of history, having also just the solitary Champions Trophy success (in 2000) to their name thus far.
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New Zealand’s Finn Allen says that his T20 semi final performance, which helped his side claim victory over South Africa, was ‘pretty up there’ with his best ones.
“You take the positives from this game, celebrate that little moment of success and then we’ve got a final to win on Sunday,” Allen said after his match-winning exploits, adding his hundred was “probably up there” in terms of his career best.
“It’s easy in a semi-final to stay up for the fight – it was a huge game for us – and we enjoyed it out there together.
“When Tim Seifert [who hit 58] is going like that, it makes it easy for me… I can just watch and hit it when it’s in my area, and we got off to an absolute flier.”
Skipper Santner added: “It was special to watch [Allen and Seifert]. We were very happy with a target of 170 going into our innings, but you never know.
“They went out there, played their game and took it on, which was cool to see. And then Finn carried on – 33 balls for a ton is not too bad!
“We knew how good South Africa are, they’ve shown it throughout the tournament, so to put on a performance like that in a crunch game was obviously really pleasing.”
Watch England vs India in the second T20 World Cup semi-final, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 1pm, Thursday (1.30pm first ball).
2026 Men’s T20 World Cup knockouts
All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports
Semi-finals
Wednesday March 4
Thursday March 5
England vs India (Mumbai, 1.30pm)
Final
Sunday March 8
New Zealand vs TBC (Ahmedabad, 1.30pm)
