New Zealand opener Finn Allen has made a habit of turning IPL chases into one-man exhibitions, and his latest effort for Kolkata Knight Riders against Delhi Capitals underlined exactly why. Allen struck an unbeaten century that carried KKR past a competitive target with ease, becoming the first Kiwi batter to record three T20 hundreds in a single calendar year.<\/p>\n
In the IPL meeting with Delhi, Allen dismantled a 143-run chase by smashing 100 not out off just 47 deliveries. His innings featured five boundaries and ten maximums, with a strike rate of 212.77 that left the chase in tatters from early on.<\/p>\n
Allen is also only the second New Zealand batter to register a century in the cash-rich league. Brendon McCullum previously achieved the feat with an unbeaten 158 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening match of the inaugural IPL season in 2008.<\/p>\n
Before the IPL heroics, Allen stacked up big scores across formats. He hit a 53-ball century for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League, and then followed it with a 33-ball hundred against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-finals\u2014widely noted as the quickest century in the combined history of both 50-over and T20 World Cups.<\/p>\n
In the context of KKR\u2019s own IPL record books, Allen\u2019s six-hitting has also started climbing up the ladder. He now sits with the third-most sixes by a KKR batter in an IPL innings. The milestones above him include Andre Russell\u2019s 11 sixes against Chennai Super Kings in 2018 at Chennai, where Russell struck 88 not out off 36 balls, and McCullum\u2019s explosive 158 not out in the IPL\u2019s first-ever match.<\/p>\n
With his century, Allen joins a select group of KKR batters who have reached three figures in the tournament: Brendon McCullum, Venkatesh Iyer, and Sunil Narine.<\/p>\n
Looking at this ongoing IPL campaign, Allen has amassed 210 runs across seven innings. His batting average stands at 35.00 and his strike rate at 205.88, with one hundred already to his name.<\/p>\n
Across all T20 cricket this year, Allen has scored 905 runs in 23 innings, averaging 45.25 with a strike rate of 195.04. His tally includes three centuries and three fifties.<\/p>\n
With this fourth straight victory, KKR have climbed to seventh and kept their playoff hopes alive. Delhi, meanwhile, have dropped to eighth after a fifth successive home defeat and a seventh loss overall in the season, leaving their playoff chances effectively gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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