Finn Allen was a man on a mission on Wednesday. That was to hit sixes, no matter what. And boy did he succeed in his endeavour. The New Zealand opener equalled the world record for most sixes in T20Is in a breathtaking display of power-hitting that made the high-quality Pakistan bowling attack appear like a club team in the third T20I in Dunedin. The 16 sixes that Allen clobbered put him at par with Afghanistan opener Hazratullah Zazai, who had done the same against Ireland in Dehradun four years ago.
Allen broke multiple records to take New Zealand to 224/7 after 20 overs. His 137 off 62 balls is now the highest individual score by a New Zealand batter in this format. The previous best was 123 set by Brendon McCullum. This was also the first instance when a New Zealand batter smashed more than 10 sixes in a T20I knock. Previously Corey Anderson and Colin Munro had hit 10 sixes each in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
This was Allen’s second T20I century after his 74 off 41 balls in the previous T20I. The right-hander brought up his century off just 48 balls to make it the third-fastest by a New Zealander in the shortest format. Glenn Phillips holds the record for the fastest T20I hundred by a Kiwi off 46 balls.
Allen was particularly harsh on Haris Rauf, taking 27 off one over with three sixes, two fours and a single.
Allen’s whirlwind knock put New Zealand in a strong position to wrap up the five-match series with two games to spare and maintain their unbeaten record at Dunedin’s University Oval.
After the early dismissal of Devon Conway for seven, Allen and Tim Seifert put on 125 for the second wicket, with Seifert only contributing 31 as he opted for singles to keep the hard-hitting opener on strike.
The umpires had to call for replacement balls three times, after Allen smacked missiles out of the ground.
The opener was eventually undone in the 18th over when he was bowled by an off-cutter from Zaman Khan, who then applauded the New Zealand batsman as he left the field.
All the Pakistan bowlers barring Mohammad Wasim Junior and Zaman Khan went for more than 10 runs an over. Captain Shaheen Afridi went for 43 in his four overs while Haris Rauf was smashed for 60 in his full quota.
