Finn Allen unleashes record outburst as Black Caps clinch T20 Series

By Kris Shannon

Finn Allen destroyed Pakistan, several cricket balls and a host of records in 90 minutes of brutal batting at University Oval this afternoon.

The New Zealand opener unleashed in a manner rarely seen across the 20-year history of Twenty20 internationals, blasting 137 runs from 62 balls to lift his side to a commanding series victory in Dunedin.

Allen’s outburst saw him set a new high score for the Black Caps, surpassing Brendon McCullum’s 123 against Bangladesh in 2012, and equal the sixth-best knock by any batsman in a T20I.

In smearing 16 sixes, the 24-year-old drew level with the world record set by Afghanistan batter Hazratullah Zazai against Ireland in 2019, while launching several towering shots out of University Oval altogether.

The match official responsible for replacing those balls put almost more miles on his legs than Allen. With five fours peppering the carnage, 85 per cent of his runs were scored in boundaries.

It was a one-man show - only two teammates reached double figures - and produced a total of 224-7. That was the highest recorded at the venue and the Black Caps’ seventh-best in T20s, having notched number five in game one at Eden Park.

It was also far too many for Pakistan, falling 45 runs short as New Zealand clinched the series with two matches to spare.

The hosts could hardly have begun a World Cup year in more convincing fashion - and Allen must have locked down his spot ahead of that tournament in June.

The Aucklander has long offered the promise of this type of eye-popping innings. But throughout a 60-match international career in the short forms, inconsistency has undermined his abundant ability.

Following his match-winning 74 in game two in Hamilton, this was the first time Allen reached 50 in consecutive innings, while the century was only his second following a 101 against Scotland in 2022.

Last year, he was omitted from the squad for the ODI World Cup, having previously been anointed in the role of attacking opener. This year, his response to that blow has been to deliver dozens of his own.

He waited a relative age to land the first today, his first six coming from the seventh ball after Pakistan had opted to bowl for the third time in as many matches. Allen’s second six came from the next delivery Shaheen Shah Afridi sent down and, like the first, was returned deep over the midwicket fence.

While Devon Conway’s slump continued when he miscued Haris Rauf in the fourth over, that was the last positive moment for the paceman. Following that wicket and the two runs he ceded, Rauf’s next two overs went for 51, with Allen alone collecting 47 from 14 deliveries against the world’s 14th-ranked bowler.

The tourists were certainly guilty of bowling into the opener’s hitting zones, as Allen collected the vast majority of his runs in front of square on the leg side. But the way he was seeing and hitting the ball, those expanded zones were hard to avoid.

Allen passed 50 from 26 balls and celebrated by losing another with a 107-metre straight drive off Mohammad Nawaz, helping his side to 103-1 at the halfway mark.

Allen soon became the first Black Caps batter to smack 11 sixes in a T20I innings, then registered his century from 48 balls, the third-fastest for the team behind Glenn Phillips (46) and Colin Munro (47).

Tim Seifert, replacing the injured Kane Williamson, played a solid supporting role, notching 31 in a 125-run stand from 61 balls. And although the innings petered out after Allen chopped on from Zaman Khan in the 17th over, ending with a strike rate of 221, the damage had been emphatically done.

The required rate facing Pakistan had already climbed above 12 when skipper Mitchell Santner outfoxed Mohammad Rizwan to have the dangerman caught behind in the eighth over.

Only Babar Azam (58 off 37) fought back for his third half-century of the series. Only Allen will be remembered from this game.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission