Finn Allen smashed the fastest century in T20I history in a display of brutal hitting at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Chasing 170 to seal a place in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Final, the Kiwi batter stroked a 33-ball century to power his side home with ease. Allen breaks former India captain Rohit Sharma’s record, who held it for 9 years with his 35-ball effort vs Sri Lanka in 2017.
Fastest T20I century (Among Full Member Nations)
33 Balls – Finn Allen vs South Africa – 2026
35 Balls – Rohit Sharma vs Sri Lanka – 2017
35 Balls – David Miller vs Bangladesh – 2017
37 Balls – Abhishek Sharma vs England – 2025
37 Balls – Tim David vs West Indies – 2025
In one of the most brutal displays of power hitting, Allen set off from the word go in New Zealand’s chase. He got a couple of early sixes off Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen with Tim Seifert holding most of the strike. It was only in the final over of the powerplay that Allen flipped the script.
Facing Corbin Bosch, the right-hander picked up 22 runs with a maximum and four consecutive boundaries. That took the score to 84/0 in the powerplay, all but sealing the game.
Allen reached his half-century in 19 balls, the joint fastest of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Losing Seifert did not end Allen’s pyrotechnics, as he went from strength to strength, picking boundaries at ease. No over went without a hit to the fence.
Jansen’s return to the attack was all the license the Kiwi opener needed. He struck 24 in 5 balls to reach his century off just 33 balls to seal the chase in 12.5 overs.
