Allen's record-breaking century earns New Zealand big win over South Africa in T20 World Cup semis

KOLKATA, India (AP) — New Zealand opener Finn Allen smashed the fastest-ever century in a T20 World Cup game to help the Kiwis defeat favorite South Africa by nine wickets in the first semifinal on Wednesday.

Allen’s blistering unbeaten 100 off 33 balls featured 10 fours and eight sixes and propelled New Zealand to 173-1 in only 12.5 overs to end South Africa’s hopes of reaching its second successive final.

Allen’s ruthless power-hitting saw the right-hander smash Marco Jansen for 4-4-6-6-4 to reach one of the most memorable hundreds in the tournament’s history and lift New Zealand to only its second final.

West Indies great Chris Gayle had the previous record with his 47-ball hundred against England in the 2016 tournament.

South Africa, which came into the playoffs on the back of seven straight wins in the tournament that included seven-wicket win over the Kiwis in the group stage, had used Jansen’s unbeaten 55 off 30 balls to score 169-8 after Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to chase at Eden Gardens.

“Just tried to get in good positions and perform for the team,” Allen said. “We wanted to start well and put them on the back foot early. Easy for me when Timmy is going like that … training is really important to get a feel of the wicket. We knew it would be black soil, we had that intel.”

And the chase was all over inside the first six overs when Allen and Tim Seifert (58) raced New Zealand to 84-0. Both batters smashed Jansen for two sixes and three boundaries in left-armer’s first two overs and then Allen rounded off the power play by smashing Corbin Bosch for 22 runs in the sixth over.

The return of Kagiso Rabada and leftarm spinner Keshav Maharaj also couldn’t stem the flow of runs as the pair swelled the opening stand to 117 in only nine overs. Rabada got the consolation wicket of Seifert when he knocked the top of leg stump, but Allen kept coming hard on the bowlers with his amazing power-hitting.

Jansen was punished by Allen and Seifert as the left-armer conceded 53 runs off his 2.5 overs. Bosch gave away 35 of his two overs while Maharaj (0-33) and Lungi Ngidi (0-22) were smashed for 55 runs off their five overs.

“Massive credit to Finn Allen’s knock and Seifert’s knock to kill the game off as early as they did,” South Africa captain Aiden Markram said. “We expected the wicket to play really well, looked really good to the eye. Maybe we had to try and scrape our way to 190 and we’d be in the game.”

Left-handed Jansen led the recovery in the second half of the innings after the top-order had slipped to 77-5 in the 11th over against off-spin of Cole McConchie (2-9) and the leftarm spin of Rachin Ravindra (2-29).

Santner was quick to gauge the matchup and his ploy to give McConchie the new ball brought New Zealand two wickets in two balls when Quinton de Kock (10) was caught at mid-on and Ryan Rickelton sliced a catch to point off the first ball he faced from the offspinner.

Markram (18) and David Miller (6) couldn’t capitalize on dropped catch and fell to Ravindra with Daryl Mitchell holding onto the catches of both batters in the outfield.

Jansen and Tristan Stubbs (29) revived the innings with a 73-run stand as Jansen raised his half century with back-to-back sixes against Lockie Ferguson and South Africa accelerated well in the death overs by scoring 68 runs of the last six overs.

“When you see how good South Africa are, to put on a performance like that in a crunch game is pretty pleasing,” Santner said. “I guess today was just about trying to keep pressure on throughout, and when you take wickets consistently it’s a challenge to keep going with the bat.”

New Zealand will take on the winner of Thursday’s semifinal between co-host India and England.

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New Zealand's Finn Allen, left, celebrates with batting partner Rachin Ravindra after New Zealand won the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal match against South Africa in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

New Zealand's Finn Allen reacts after hitting the winning runs and finishing his century during the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal match between New Zealand and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

South Africa's Marco Jansen plays a shot during the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal match between New Zealand and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

New Zealand's Tim Seifert plays a shot during the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal match between New Zealand and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

New Zealand's Finn Allen reacts after hitting the winning runs and finishing his century during the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal match between New Zealand and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra with his batting partner Finn Allen celebrate after wining against South Africa during the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal match in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The World Health Organization chief said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and now poses a “very high” risk there, as a lack of medical resources and anger among the population hamper the response in a vulnerable and conflict-ridden region.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of global spread remains low, but that the U.N. health agency was revising upward its assessment of the risk within Congo from its previous categorization of “high.”

The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been confirmed in Congo, with seven confirmed deaths, though he said the outbreak is believed to be “much larger.” He said there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.

Supplies were being rushed to Ituri province in the northeastern corner of the country, where the illness has been spreading for weeks in areas were many people have been displaced by armed conflict.

Frontline medical staff have struggled with a lack of resources and, in some cases, pushback due to what has been characterized as misinformation or situations where medical policy has clashed with local customs such as burial rites.

On Thursday, an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara was set on fire by youths who were angered when they were blocked from retrieving the body of a friend who apparently had died of Ebola, according to witnesses and police.

Bodies of Ebola victims can be highly contagious, and medical authorities are trying to control burials whenever possible.

Julienne Lusenge, president of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, a local aid group, said the population’s anger is mostly due to misinformation.

“We have lived through years and years of conflict and hardship so rumors spread easily,” she said.

She said some churches have told their large congregations that the outbreak is fake and that divine protection makes medical care unnecessary.

The United Nations said Friday it released $60 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to accelerate the response in Congo and in the region.

The U.S. has pledged $23 million in funding to bolster the response in Congo and Uganda, and said it would also fund the establishment of up to 50 Ebola treatment clinics in the affected regions.

But Ugandan authorities said Thursday on X they were not aware of any treatment center being set up by the U.S.

Lusenge said her group’s small hospital near the Ituri provincial capital of Bunia lacks basic protective equipment as health workers struggle to respond to the outbreak.

Patients showing symptoms are first examined at the hospital before being referred to a larger treatment center, exposing nurses and doctors to possible infection, she said.

“We have made requests to different partners, but we have not yet really received anything,” Lusenge said. “We only have hand sanitizer and a few masks for the nurses, but we need much more than that.”

Both the WHO and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the outbreak is larger than the cases detected so far.

“I expect the number of cases to increase as surveillance becomes more and more rigorous," Africa CDP Director-General Jean Kaseya said.

The region's already-weak health infrastructure and surveillance capacity has been further weakened by international aid cuts, experts say.

Armed conflict in the region further complicates efforts to handle the crisis. There are over 920,000 internally displaced people in Ituri Province, according to the U.N.

Local leaders said an attack by militants linked to the Islamic State group killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in Alima, a village in Ituri.

“The outbreak can still be contained but the window for action is narrow,” Gabriela Arenas from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday. “What happens in the coming days in homes, in communities and across borders will matter enormously.”

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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Keaten reported from Geneva. Associated Press writers Jean Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo; Mark Banchereau and Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

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Charred hospital beds stand in smoldering Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026, after it was set fire by people angry at being stopped from retrieving a body, according to a witness and police. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

Medical staff carry an Ebola patient to a treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

A person is wearing a protective face mask in front of the WHO logo, during the media regarding the epidemic of Ebola disease, during a press conference at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)