FINN ALLEN smashed his maiden IPL century as Kolkata Knight Riders registered a fourth straight win with an eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals on Friday.
The New Zealander hit 10 sixes and reached his hundred with the shot that sealed the chase after Kolkata’s bowlers, led by Sunil Narine, restricted Delhi to 142-8 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Narine returned figures of one for 17 from four overs as Kolkata’s spinners took control in the middle overs. Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy also played key roles.
The trio combined for three wickets for 76 runs from 12 overs and slowed Delhi after a strong opening stand led by Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka.
Nissanka and KL Rahul added 49 for the first wicket after Delhi were put in to bat by Ajinkya Rahane. But once the spinners were introduced, Delhi struggled to score freely.
Delhi went 38 deliveries without a boundary in the second half of the innings before Ashutosh Sharma provided some late runs with 39 off 28 balls.
Allen, playing as the impact substitute for an injured Chakravarthy, had failed to get past the Powerplay in his previous six innings. He started cautiously after Kolkata lost Rahane, who was run out at the non-striker’s end while backing up, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who was bowled off his shoulder while attempting to sweep Axar Patel.
Allen then shared an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 116 in 64 deliveries with Cameron Green, who supported him through the chase.
Allen was dropped on 42 by Tristan Stubbs at long-on. He reached his fifty in 32 deliveries before accelerating further.
He attacked wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam and needed only 15 deliveries for his second fifty.
Allen completed his century with the last of his 10 sixes off pacer Mukesh Kumar. The shot also took Kolkata to victory with 34 deliveries remaining.
Kolkata moved above Delhi into seventh place in the points table to keep their playoff hopes alive. Delhi suffered their ninth home defeat in 11 matches since the start of the 2025 season.
