New Delhi: Finn Allen has the reputation of being New Zealand’s most destructive batsman after Brendon McCullum. Franchise leagues love him. A six-hitting machine, he holds the men’s T20 record for most sixes in an innings – 19 for San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket.Despite earning his first IPL contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2021, the 27-year-old waited five years to make his debut in the league. Even in the purple and gold of Kolkata Knight Riders this season, it took them until the seventh innings to find their attacking best.
Delhi Capitals had no answer at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday night. Despite Pathum Nissanka’s 50 and Ashutosh Sharma’s 39, KKR restricted the hosts to 142/8. Allen then scored an unbeaten 100 off 47 balls while chasing the target, taking KKR to 147/2 in 14.2 overs and winning by eight wickets.Laced with ten sixes and five fours, it was a clinical display of power hitting. It was similar to Allen’s unbeaten century off 33 balls against South Africa at Eden Gardens in the T20 World Cup semi-final a few months ago.However, he has failed to kick from that height after three consecutive single-digit scores midway through this IPL. Allen, introduced here as KKR’s ‘impact sub’, admitted that the break helped him reevaluate. Allen said, “Sometimes, being left out changes your perspective. It gives time to refresh mentally. I was putting too much pressure on myself in the beginning.”The ease of his innings could indicate batting heaven. It was not. Most of the batsmen had to struggle with the sticky surface and KKR were at 31/2 in the powerplay. Allen showed that he can remain aggressive on challenging tracks, reaching full balls and sending them straight over the ropes while pulling the shorter balls towards midwicket and wide long-on with ease.Allen said, “I wanted to keep my composure. We lost some games early. I knew I had to take a little responsibility and bat a little deeper. That helped me get into a better position.”“The Finn was exceptional today. He has made amazing starts. He is one of the best in the world at doing that and getting the pressure back,” said cameron greenWith whom Allen made an unbroken partnership of 116 runs for the third wicket.As the Knight Riders made a late charge for the playoffs, Allen issued a warning to their rivals. “I’m working on adding more strings to my bow,” he said.