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New Zealand batter Finn Allen made history, smashing the fastest century in the World Cup history across both 20 and 50 over formats, overtaking West Indies' icon Chris Gayle's record in the T20 World Cup with a cyclone of a knock against South Africa at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
During a run-chase of 170 runs, Kiwi openers Tim Seifert (58 in 33 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Allen (100* in 33 balls, with 10 fours and eight sixes) made a light work of the total, chasing it down in just 12.5 overs, with Seifert overtaking Gayle's 47-ball ton against England in T20 World Cup 2016 and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell's 40-ball ton against Netherlands in 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup to slam the fastest World Cup century across T20I and ODI formats. This is the fastest century against a Test-playing nation in T20Is and joint-third-fastest in all of T20Is, with Sahil Chauhan (Estonia) scoring the fastest T20I century, a 27-ball one against Cyprus in 2024. It is also the joint-fastest T20I century by a batter from a Test-playing nation, alongside Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza's 33-ball ton against Gambia in 2024. Allen's century has also overtaken 46-ball ton by Glenn Phillips against West Indies in 2020 as NZ's fastest T20I ton. This century also overtakes Sri Lankan legend Tilakaratne Dilshan's 96* against the West Indies in the 2009 T20 World Cup quarterfinals as the highest score in T20 World Cup knockouts. Besides Brendon McCullum (123 against Bangladesh in 2012) and Phillips (104 against Sri Lanka in 2022), Allen is the third NZ batter to get a T20 World Cup century. Allen registered 10 fours and eight sixes in his innings, the joint-highest boundary count in a T20 World Cup innings, alongside McCullum's 11 fours and seven sixes in his 123 against Bangladesh in 2012. The eight maximums by Allen are the most by a Kiwi batter in a T20WC inning and the most by a batter in a T20WC knockout match. The opener's masterclass came at a strike rate of 303.03 and had just four dot deliveries. There have been 76 individual innings of at least 30 deliveries in the T20 WC semis or the finals to date. Of those, only Virat Kohli's 72 off 44 against South Africa in the 2014 semis had lower dot balls, with just three. 43 balls remaining is the most in a successful 150-plus chase in T20 WC history, outdoing 41 balls for Scotland vs Oman at North Sound in 2024 (target: 151). (ANI)
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