Black Caps hero Finn Allen has developed a calmness about his role as an opener that is paying dividends at the Twenty20 World Cup, the team’s batting coach Luke Ronchi says.
Allen turned New Zealand’s semi-final today into a fireworks display, hittingan unbeaten century in just 33 balls, a T20 World Cup record, as they crushed South Africa by nine wickets in Kolkata.
They will play the winner of tomorrow’s semi-final between England and India in the final in Ahmedabad on Monday (NZT).
Seifert took on the dominant role to start with, his 58 coming in 33 balls, but Allen gradually increased his pace, finishing with a blitz of four sixes and four fours and a solitary single off the last nine balls he faced, bringing up his century and the victory with a boundary.
“The start Finn and Seif gave us chasing that total was just phenomenal,” Ronchi told RNZ’s Morning Report.
Allen’s form at the World Cup has followed an imperious Big Bash campaign in Australia, where he was the leading scorer with 466 runs for the Perth Scorchers, who won the title in January.
Finn Allen was the leading scorer with 466 runs in the Perth Scorchers' January title run. Photo / Getty Images
“There is a calmness in situations that he is understanding now,” Ronchi said.
“He can grasp situations of a game or an innings and ... if there’s an impactful over or an impactful bowler coming on, he knows trying to get through and play certain shots can be massive in that moment and he’s been doing that beautifully.”
Allen’s combination with Seifert had been “awesome” at the World Cup, Ronchi said.
“They give you impetus starting off an innings like that and the guys behind them can play their way and everyone is complementing each other nicely and hopefully we can do it one more time.”
Ronchi paid tribute to the bowlers, who had pinned down South Africa’s batters.
“The bowlers in general did a fantastic job to restrict South Africa to what we did.”
He said the preparation leading up to the tournament had been vital in helping the players understand the different styles of cricket needed on differing surfaces.
“We’ve been here now for two months, we’ve played some cricket in Sri Lanka, we’ve played in India, we’ve played on lots of differing grounds.
“That’s always going to help you, because you understand the style of cricket you want to play.”
Ronchi said the team were unconcerned about who their opponents in the final might be.
“Everyone is prepared to face whoever it’s going to be,” he said, adding they knew they had to adapt to the opposition and whatever the surface and conditions in Ahmedabad might be.
It was important the Black Caps grasped all the excitement in the lead-up to the final.
“You need to embrace it and own it,’’ Ronchi said.
