Allen has a stroll in the garden as Kiwis reach final
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Allen has a stroll in the garden as Kiwis reach final


Allen has a stroll in the garden as Kiwis reach final

New Zealand opener Finn Allen celebrates after scoring the winning runs in the semifinal against South Africa.
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

New Zealand reached its second men’s T20 World Cup final with a victory so complete that, for all the intrigue of the first half, the chase carried scarcely a tremor of uncertainty. Pursuing 170 at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, the Black Caps swept past the Proteas by nine wickets with 43 balls to spare.

For long stretches earlier, the South African total of 169 for eight had the look of something modest. Much had to be owed to New Zealand’s reading of the surface and the match-ups. The pitch was slower than the one used for the India-West Indies Super Eight game, the ball gripping and refusing to arrive cleanly to the bat. Mitchell Santner recognised it early.

Quinton de Kock’s below-par record against off-spin prompted the introduction of Cole McConchie inside the PowerPlay, and the move worked instantly.

The southpaw, having just driven a short, wide ball for four, was denied room next delivery and miscued the pull. Ryan Rickelton then fell first ball, slicing to backward point. The squeeze continued through the middle overs as Santner and Rachin Ravindra operated in tandem. Rachin, who had earlier spilled Aiden Markram, dismissed him in his first over and removed David Miller in the next. At 77 for four in 10 overs, South Africa’s innings appeared stalled.

The late overs altered that picture. Jimmy Neesham’s 18th over went for 22 as Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs broke the rhythm. Jansen struck two sixes off Lockie Ferguson to reach a 27-ball half-century, finishing unbeaten on 55 off 30. South Africa climbed to 169 from what had looked closer to a 140-type total.

If that intervention briefly revived the contest, New Zealand’s openers quickly removed the doubt with blistering knocks.

Tim Seifert and Finn Allen attacked the new ball with clear intent, taking 29 from Jansen’s opening two overs and 11 from Lungi Ngidi’s first. The Kiwis closed the PowerPlay on 84 without loss. While Santner had introduced spin early, Markram waited until the seventh over to bring on Keshav Maharaj despite having two right-handers at the crease.

By then, the pursuit had taken decisive shape, Allen’s unbeaten 33-ball 100 guiding New Zealand to its first T20 World Cup win over South Africa.

Published – March 04, 2026 11:55 pm IST


‘It was just that bad night’: Aiden Markram’s painful admission after New Zealand hammering | Cricket News – The Times of India
tioo Sports
‘It was just that bad night’: Aiden Markram’s painful admission after New Zealand hammering | Cricket News – The Times of India


‘It was just that bad night’: Aiden Markram’s painful admission after New Zealand hammering | Cricket News – The Times of India
South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

South Africa captain Aiden Markram admitted it was simply a night where very little went his side’s way as a rampant New Zealand national cricket team stormed into the T20 World Cup final with a crushing nine-wicket win at Eden Gardens.New Zealand’s charge was led by a breathtaking 33-ball century from Finn Allen, the fastest hundred in T20 World Cup history, as they chased down 170 in just 12.5 overs. For Markram, the damage was done early.

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“I think you look at conditions early and they bowled really well up front. Ball didn’t quite feel like coming on, some were just stopping on the wicket and some were hitting quite low on the bat and they made scoring really tough and through that pressure builds and you lose wickets unfortunately,” Markram said.He credited the Kiwi bowling unit for squeezing his side during the powerplay, where scoring never quite flowed. “So give credit to their bowling unit and obviously with the bat, someone plays an innings like that, don’t think you will come out on the right side of the result many times as a fielding team.”South Africa eventually posted 169 for 8, thanks largely to Marco Jansen’s unbeaten 54 off 30 balls and a crucial stand with Tristan Stubbs after they had slumped to 77 for 5. Markram felt there was still hope at the break.“To get to 170 was a great effort to be fair. At the halfway point we really felt like we had a sniff,” he said.That optimism quickly faded as Allen and Tim Seifert tore into the bowling. “But then, as it goes in T20 cricket.. (in) the powerplay (they) got off to a flyer and can’t protect every boundary unfortunately, and yeah they got away and then from there it was really hard to pull it back.”Markram reserved special praise for the openers who killed the contest inside the first six overs. “So we give massive credit to Finn Allen’s knock, Tim Seifert’s knock to kill the game as early as they did, and yeah unfortunately, it was just that bad night for us tonight.”Reflecting on what could have been done differently, the skipper suggested a quicker tactical adjustment with the bat might have helped.“It’s hard to say right now. We’ll reflect as the group. I think we expected the wicket to play really well. It looked pretty good to the eye, so potentially just adapt a bit quicker with the bats and go back to maybe a bit more old school approach, set it up and try to scrape your way to 190, and maybe you’ll be in the game from there.”Despite the disappointment of falling short of another final, Markram stood firmly behind his squad. “So yeah, we’ll reflect as a group. Obviously disappointed with the result, but very proud of this group of guys who have played some really good cricket throughout this comp, and it’s just an unfortunate evening really.”