New Zealand secured their place in the T20 World Cup final after defeating South Africa by nine wickets in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Set to chase 170, the Blackcaps comfortably struck the winning runs for the loss of just one wicket and 43 balls to spare, courtesy of a monumental opening partnership between centurion Finn Allen and Tim Seifert.
The opening pair laid a solid foundation for the pursuit by putting together 117 runs in nine overs before Kagiso Rabada cleaned up Seifert, who made a 33-ball 58 with the help of seven fours and two sixes.
Allen, on the other hand, stood his ground firm and eventually steered New Zealand over the line by smashing Marco Jansen for a four on the penultimate delivery of the 13th over, which also helped him bring up his third T20I century.
Allen remained the top-scorer for New Zealand with an unbeaten 100 off 33 deliveries, studded with 10 fours and eight sixes.
He also shared a one-sided 56-run partnership for the second wicket with Rachin Ravindra, who contributed with 13 not out from 11 deliveries.
Rabada remained the solitary wicket-taker for South Africa.
Put into bat first, South Africa accumulated 169/8 in their 20 overs, courtesy of a defiant sixth-wicket partnership between Jansen and Tristan Stubbs.
