 "Finn Allen forged a brilliant partnership Tim Seifert at the top to take the game away from South Africa in the powerplay itself. Image: AFP")
New Zealand crushed South Africa by 9 wickets in the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where Finn Allen stole the show. Chasing 170, the Kiwis made light work of the target, reaching there in just 12.5 overs, with Allen smashing a record-breaking 100 not out off 33 balls.
Speaking after the match, Finn Allen credited New Zealand’s recent series in India for helping him adapt to different pitches. “Training in different conditions before the World Cup really helped. We knew it would be black soil, we had that intel. Shows how important that series was before the World Cup,” Allen said.
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Allen on New Zealand’s powerplay plan
Tim Seifert gave New Zealand a flying start with 58 off 33 balls before falling to Kagiso Rabada. Allen then took charge, finishing the chase with a century , the fastest in a Men’s T20 World Cup history and the fastest for New Zealand in the tournament. It was also the quickest against South Africa in T20 World Cup history.
“Just tried to get in good positions and perform for the team. We wanted to start well and put them on the back foot early. Easy for me when Timmy is going like that. I can just watch and get him on strike. He batted on a flyer. Huge game for us. Timmy and I just kept ensuring we’re looking straight and going hard,” he said after winning the POTM award.
New Zealand’s bowling earlier restricted South Africa to 169/8. The Proteas lost early wickets with Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton departing in the opening overs. Dewald Brevis (34 off 27) and Tristan Stubbs (29 off 24) provided some stability in the middle, while Marco Jansen finished with a fiery 55 off 30 balls.
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Santner lauds Allen and Seifert
Captain Mitch Santner praised his team’s performance. “Yeah it was nice. When you see how good South Africa are, to put on a performance like that in a crunch game is pretty pleasing,” he said.
Talking about Seifert and Allen’s partnership, Santner said, “It was special, it was nice to watch, not going to lie. We were very happy with 170 going into the break but in T20, you never know. Wickets on the powerplay would have made it a challenge. But they took it on. And Finny just carried on. And 33-ball 100 is not bad.”
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said, “I think you look at the conditions and they bowled really well up front. Credit to their bowling unit. And obviously when someone plays an innings like that, you don’t often come out on the right side of that. To get to 170 was a great effort to be fair. As it goes in T20 cricket, they got off to a flyer in the powerplay. Massive credit to Finn Allen’s knock and Seifert’s knock to kill the game off as early as they did.”