Explosive right-handed opener Finn Allen described his record-breaking 33-ball century as “pretty up there” in terms of his best batting performances, as it propelled New Zealand into the T20 World Cup final with a comprehensive nine-wicket win over South Africa at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
Allen also shared a 117-run opening stand with Tim Seifert to help New Zealand chase down 170 with 43 balls to spare and book their spot in the final to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.“I’d say it’s pretty up there. Just wanted to get into good positions and put a good performance in for the team. Obviously, we wanted to start looking straight and obviously try and put them on the back foot early.
“I think it’s easy for me when Timmy’s (Seifert) going like that, I can kind of just watch and then hit it when it’s in my area and just try and give him the strike. So I think the way that he batted got us off to an absolute flyer. Like I said, we wanted to get strong positions, look straight and work the ball square off the length,” said Allen in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Asked on how he keeps his rhythm in such crucial games, Allen said, “I think it’s easier in the semifinal to stay up for the fight. Obviously, huge game for us. With Timmy, we say, keep each other in it, whether we’re on strike or not, just keep ensuring that each other’s looking straight, looking to hit the ball hard. We enjoyed out there together.”
Quizzed on adapting to different conditions, Allen explained, “I think when you adapt to the wickets, training becomes really important to get a feel of what the wicket might play like. When you’re coming here, black soil, there was that India series before this, which the boys played a lot on black soil. So good intel from that and that shows how important that series was for us coming into this World Cup.
He signed off by saying the Blackcaps focus will now turn into playing in the final. “It was good. You take the positives from this game for sure, celebrate a little moment of success and then, we’ve got a final to win on Sunday, so we just look forward to that.”