Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 4 : New Zealand opener Finn Allen expressed satisfaction after delivering one of his finest performances in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup history, saying his focus was on putting the team in a strong position and building momentum.
A historic century by Finn Allen, the fastest in T20 World Cup history, took New Zealand to the final of the ongoing T20 World Cup, stopping South Africa's unbeaten run by nine wickets at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
With this win, NZ has sealed their final spot and will play either India or England, who will clash on Thursday at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Courtesy of some fight from South Africa's Marco Jansen (55* in 30 balls, with two fours and five sixes) and Tristan Stubbs (29 in 24 balls, with two fours and a six), Proteas reached 169/8 in 20 overs after they sunk to 77/5.
But the real magic was produced by Tim Seifert (58 in 33 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Allen (100* in 33 balls, with 10 fours and eight sixes), who put a 117-run stand which killed the game within the powerplay itself as the Black Caps chased down the target in the 13th over.
Allen, who was named Player of the Match for his explosive knock at the top of the order, said the innings ranks among his best in international cricket. 8 sixes by Finn Allen was the most for NZ in a T20 WC innings, and the most for anyone in a T20 WC knockout.
"(Is this the best you have ever put out?) Yeah, I'd say it's pretty up there. Yeah, just wanted to get into good positions and put a good performance in for the team," Allen said after receiving the award.
Speaking about his opening partnership with Tim Seifert, Allen highlighted the clear strategy they carried into the contest -- to play straight, apply early pressure and seize the initiative in the powerplay.
"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 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," he said.
Allen credited Seifert's aggressive approach for setting the tone of the innings and allowing him to play with greater freedom.
"So I think the way that he batted got us off to an absolute flyer. And yeah, I think as I said, we wanted to get strong positions, look straight and work the ball square off the length," he added.
The right-hander, however, was quick to shift focus from individual success to the larger objective, stressing that the team's job is far from over.
"I think 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," Allen said.
Brief Scores: SA: 169/8 (Marco Jansen 55*, Tristan Stubbs 29, Rachin Ravindra 2/29) lost to NZ: 173/1 in 12.5 overs (Finn Allen 100*, Tim Seifert 58, Kagiso Rabada 1/28).