New Zealand defeated South Africa by 9 wickets in the final, Finn Allen scored the fastest century

New Delhi. In the first semi-final of T20 World Cup 2026, New Zealand defeated South Africa by 9 wickets and entered the final with pride. The heroes of this historic victory of the Kiwi team were openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen, who defeated the South African bowlers by scoring stormy half-centuries. With this victory, New Zealand staked its claim for the title match. Now in the great match to be held on Sunday, New Zealand will face the winning team of the second semi-final to be played between India and England. Finn Allen created a world record by scoring a century in 33 balls. This is the fastest century in the T20 World Cup.

Chasing the target of 170 runs set by South Africa, the New Zealand team scored 173 runs at the loss of 1 wicket in 12.5 overs. The opening pair of Tim Seifert and Finn Allen gave a great start to the Kiwi team. Both the openers made a partnership of 117 runs. Seifert was out after scoring 58 runs on 33 balls which included seven fours and two sixes. He was clean bowled by Kagiso Rabada. After Seifert’s dismissal, Allen got the support of Rachin Ravindra. Allen hit 10 fours and 8 sixes in his world record century while Ravindra returned unbeaten after scoring 13 runs on 11 balls.

Earlier, with the help of Marco Yansen’s unbeaten 55 runs in 30 balls, South Africa recovered from the initial setbacks and scored 169 runs for 8 wickets. On a difficult pitch for the batsmen, New Zealand off-spinner Cole McConchie (9/2) and left-arm spinner Rachin Ravindra (29/2) bowled wreaking havoc and shook South Africa’s top order. After this, Yansen and Tristan Stubbs (29 runs in 24 balls) took over the innings. Both added 73 runs for the sixth wicket. Earlier, South Africa had lost five wickets for 77 runs in the 11th over.

New Zealand entered the final of the T20 World Cup by defeating South Africa.

As the innings progressed, the role of dew became important and playing strokes started becoming easier. Yansen, one of the best all-rounders in the world, hit five sixes in his innings and most of the sixes went beyond the 15th row of the spectators’ gallery, which shows his strength and timing. He hit two sixes to Lockie Ferguson in the 19th over. New Zealand team captain Mitchell Santner, who chose to bowl first, handed the ball to off-spinner McConchie in the second over, who bowled only one over in the match but dismissed Quinton de Kock (10) and Ryan Rickelton (0) in two consecutive balls.

Dewald Brewis scored 34 runs in 27 balls but he could not convert the good start into a big innings. He was dismissed by James Neesham. Ravindra sent Aiden Markram (18) and David Miller (6) to the pavilion. At the time of Brevis’s dismissal, New Zealand’s score was 77 runs for five wickets. The South African team lost wickets in the last two overs and could not cross 175 runs.