Cricket-Green happy to play second fiddle as Allen brings up maiden IPL ton

"Yeah, it was really special," Green said. "There's only a handful of times during your ⁠career when you get a chance to be at the other end to watch ⁠something like that." Kolkata have ⁠now won four matches in a row and climbed to seventh in the standings with nine points.

Finn Allen’s maiden Indian Premier League hundred ​for Kolkata Knight Riders came with ​a little help from teammate ‌Cameron Green, ​who said he deliberately eased off late in the chase to give the New Zealander a shot at three ‌figures. Allen smashed an unbeaten 100 off 47 balls as Kolkata cruised to an eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on Friday, though with only 143 to chase, the milestone was ‌not guaranteed.

Green acknowledged he slowed his own scoring, even taking a single late ‌on to ensure Allen had the strike to get his century with a six. "I did the maths when I knew we had about 29 to get, I was working it out," Green told reporters ⁠in ​Delhi.

"I knew I would ⁠be the most hated man in Kolkata if I did anything else but that." Playing his first IPL ⁠season, Allen delivered a blistering knock, featuring 10 sixes and five fours and marking a ​sharp turnaround after a difficult start to the campaign.

He managed just 81 runs ⁠in his first five games and was dropped for three matches before returning to the side. Green ⁠praised ​Allen’s innings, saying it was a rare privilege to witness from the non-striker’s end. "Yeah, it was really special," Green said.

"There's only a handful of times during your ⁠career when you get a chance to be at the other end to watch ⁠something like that." Kolkata have ⁠now won four matches in a row and climbed to seventh in the standings with nine points. They face Royal Challengers ‌Bangalore on ‌Wednesday.