Finn Allen blazed an unbeaten 100 off just 47 balls to power Kolkata Knight Riders to a commanding eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, and Australia all-rounder Cameron Green said he was not the least bit surprised by the New Zealand opener’s pyrotechnics, adding that he’s one of the best batters in the world at putting pressure back on the bowlers.
Before showcasing his fireworks at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday evening, Allen had shown his destructive potential earlier by hitting 37 and 28. But three single-figure scores meant he was out of the playing eleven soon. With Tim Seifert not stepping up to KKR’s expectations, Allen was brought back and made 29 in their win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 3.
On Friday, Allen also benefited from a favourable match situation, where the target was a modest 143, and bowlers who weren’t in best of form, thus allowing him to accelerate. Allen scored 20 off his first 17 balls before unleashing an 80-run burst off his next 30 deliveries.
For the first time in his IPL career, Allen passed through the powerplay period and eventually struck ten sixes, the final one arriving when KKR required two runs to win and he needed six for his maiden century in the competition. He was particularly lethal against spin, posting a strike rate of 235 via scoring 73 off 31 balls, as KKR got their fourth straight win of IPL 2026.
“Finn was exceptional. He’s been really good for us. Just he’s got off to amazing starts every time he’s been out there. So that’s exactly what we have got him in the team for. I think he’s one of the best in the world at doing that and putting pressure back on. When he gets to 30 or 40 then he’s very hard to get out because he just keeps going.
“He never really tries to rein it back in. So, I wasn’t surprised by what he did. I think he’s been training really hard and I think he’s worked out a really good way to go about it. So, no, so happy for him and it was so good to watch out down the other end,” Green said in the post-match press conference.
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