'Super special' Allen can light up big occasion for New Zealand

Opener Finn Allen has long been regarded as the hardest hitter of a cricket ball in New Zealand and his performance in taking his side to the T20 World Cup final showed just why.

His record-breaking 33-ball hundred, with eight sixes and 10 fours, in the semi-final took apart a high-class South Africa bowling attack in brutal fashion.

Allen obliterated the previous T20 World Cup century record of 47 balls by Chris Gayle in 2016 as New Zealand chased down 170 in just 12.5 overs on Wednesday.

Now he and New Zealand are one more win away from their first T20 World Cup crown and believe they can beat anyone on their day.

The strongly-built Allen is an imposing figure at the crease, evoking comparisons with the big Australian great Matthew Hayden.

“Matthew Hayden back in the day, he was big — he intimidated bowlers by just his stance,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said on cricbuzz.com.

“Graeme Smith had it for a while as well. I think Finn Allen does that.

“When he stands, as you run into bowl, you see this monster.

“The muscles and the tattoos are all there and you think: ‘Oh God’! Brutal.”

“He could again go in the final”, added Vaughan.

The Auckland-born Allen gave a glimpse of his extraordinary talent only once earlier in the tournament — an unbeaten 84 off 50 balls in a 10-wicket romp past the UAE in a group fixture.

‘World-class striking’

Allen reached his hundred against South Africa in the most belligerent style, crashing two fours, two sixes and another four off successive balls from Marco Jansen.

“Amazing hitting, world-class striking,” New Zealand all-rounder Cole McConchie said.

“He has been doing it for a long time and to do it on a big stage like that is super special for him and everyone’s really proud of him.”

Allen, 26, made his debut in March 2021.

In 2024, the world took notice of his power hitting after his 62-ball 137 laced with 16 sixes against Pakistan in a T20 in Dunedin.

His unbeaten 100 at Eden Gardens was his third T20 international ton in 61 matches.

Perennial underdogs New Zealand edged into the semi-finals on net run rate but are seeking a first World Cup in either white-ball format.

They will be up against defending champions India at Ahmedabad’s 132,000-seater Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

A billion Indians will be watching elsewhere, but Allen said fans back home in New Zealand, with a population of 5.3 million, will also be throwing their weight behind their team.

“I think as a nation, hopefully everyone gets behind us and rallies around us for Sunday,” he said.

“Hopefully they can get up and have a Monday off at work and watch the final.

“I back us, we’ve got a lot of momentum going into the weekend. I think if we play our best cricket, we can beat anybody.”