New Zealand batter Finn Allen scored an unbeaten 100* off 47 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Delhi Capitals (DC), becoming the first Kiwi batter to hit three T20 centuries in a calendar year.

His innings included five fours and 10 sixes, striking at 212.77, to help KKR chase down a modest target of 143 runs.

Allen is the second New Zealand batter after Brendon McCullum to score a century in the Indian Premier League (IPL), following McCullum’s 158* against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the inaugural IPL match in 2008. Earlier this year, Allen recorded a 53-ball century for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League and a 33-ball century against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semifinals, marking the fastest century in the combined history of 50-over and T20 World Cups.

His 10 sixes in this innings rank as the third-highest by a KKR batter in an IPL match, behind Andre Russell’s 11 sixes against Chennai Super Kings in 2018 and Brendon McCullum’s 13 sixes in the first-ever IPL match. Allen joins McCullum, Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine as the fourth player to score an IPL century for KKR.

In the current IPL season, Allen has accumulated 210 runs in seven innings at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 205.88, including one century. Across all T20s this year, he has scored 905 runs in 23 innings, averaging 45.25 with a strike rate of 195.04, registering three centuries and three fifties.

In the match, KKR won the toss and chose to field. DC’s innings featured a 49-run partnership between Pathum Nissanka, who scored 50 off 29 balls including five fours and three sixes, and KL Rahul. However, DC struggled thereafter, losing five wickets for 89 runs, with Anukul Roy taking 2/31 in four overs. Spinners Varun Chakravarthy (0/28) and Sunil Narine (1/17) applied pressure in the middle overs, while Kartik Tyagi claimed two wickets for 25 runs. Ashutosh Sharma’s 39 runs off 28 balls, including three fours and six sixes, helped DC reach 142/8 in 20 overs.