Cricket-Allen ton flattens Delhi, boosts Kolkata's playoff chance

Kolkata Knight Riders opener Finn ​Allen smashed an unbeaten 100 off ​just 47 balls in their eight-wicket ‌demolition ​of Delhi Capitals in a timely boost to their playoff hopes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday. Allen smashed 10 sixes in ‌his scintillating knock as Kolkata chased down a 143-run target with 5.4 overs to spare for their fourth win on the trot to move up to seventh place in the 10-team league.

Kolkata Knight Riders opener Finn ​Allen smashed an unbeaten 100 off ​just 47 balls in their eight-wicket ‌demolition ​of Delhi Capitals in a timely boost to their playoff hopes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday.

Allen smashed 10 sixes in ‌his scintillating knock as Kolkata chased down a 143-run target with 5.4 overs to spare for their fourth win on the trot to move up to seventh place in the 10-team league. Delhi's hopes ‌of a top-four finish appear over as they slumped behind Kolkata and their captain Axar Patel ‌was already thinking about the next season.

"We'll go and figure out where we've made mistakes," Axar said after the home loss. "There's next year too, we'll have to think of plans and preparation for next year, and accordingly, think ⁠of ​which players who are ⁠currently on the bench should be given chances." Put into bat, Delhi managed a below-par 142-8 with only Pathum Nissanka (50) ⁠and Ashutosh Sharma (39) briefly dominating the bowlers. Kolkata applied the squeeze through their three-pronged spin attack, which returned ​the combined figures of 12-0-76-3.

Allen toyed with the Delhi attack when Kolkata returned to chase ⁠and the New Zealander was particularly harsh on the spinners. With the target in sight, Allen put on a show, hitting ⁠Vipraj ​Nigam for three sixes in a row and smashing a couple of them in the next over from Kuldeep Yadav.

A six off Mukesh Kumar sealed Allen's maiden IPL hundred while also ⁠securing his team's victory. "I've been working on having more strings in my bow," player of the ⁠match Allen said.

"It was ⁠challenging early on, then I went on to bat deep. That's my model - stay in when it's tough, give myself a chance. Nice to ‌have success after ‌some frustration."