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.
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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)
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.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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)
A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday. In addition to striking Tehran, Israel hit the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel.
As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran spiraled, Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s airspace. Hegseth also said more forces will be arriving in the Middle East, adding that the U.S. “will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.”
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 50 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries.
Oil prices have soared following Iranian attacks on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy. U.S. stocks appeared steadier at Wednesday’s opening.
Here is the latest:
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it has offered them assistance or information about leaving the region.
The department is trying to arrange charter flights and other transportation despite embassy closures and Iranian missile and drone strikes that have shut airports and airspace across the region. It was not immediately clear whether any U.S.-arranged flights have departed.
More than 17,500 Americans have returned to the United States since Saturday, including over 8,500 on Tuesday. Most traveled on commercial flights without government assistance.
The military issued more warnings Wednesday evening about incoming missiles from Iran, sending millions of Israelis into shelters.
The strikes from Iran and Lebanon have targeted Israel throughout the day, with most of the projectiles intercepted or falling in open areas.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey is issuing “warnings” to prevent further incidents after NATO defenses intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile.
Erdogan made the comment at a Ramadan meal after Turkey summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest the incident.
Lebanon’s health ministry, cited by U.N. children’s agency, said Wednesday that seven children were killed and 38 injured in Israeli airstrikes across the country in the past 24 hours.
Nearly 60,000 people, including about 18,000 children, were displaced in the last 24 hours, UNICEF said, adding to tens of thousands already uprooted.
“No child should ever be killed or left to bear the lifelong physical and emotional scars of violence,” UNICEF’s Lebanon representative Marcoluigi Corsi said.
The electricity ministry said Wednesday the national power grid has “completely shut down across all Iraqi provinces.”
The cause was not immediately clear. Officials said crews were working to restore power stations and transmission lines.
Outages had already hit the semi-autonomous Kurdish region after a key gas field halted operations over security concerns. Iraq’s oil ministry also said Tuesday it stopped production at a major field near Basra, citing a tanker shortage in the Persian Gulf amid the conflict.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday his government pursued diplomacy to avoid war but was forced to defend itself after U.S. and Israeli attacks.
“We respect your sovereignty,” Pezeshkian said on X in a message to neighboring countries and allies, “and believe the region’s security and stability has to be achieved through the collective efforts of its states.”
Iran has fired missiles and drones at Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, although many munitions and debris from interceptions have hit civilian areas.
The Israeli military said it attacked a compound in eastern Tehran housing the headquarters for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite Quds Force, the intelligence directorate, Basij paramilitary force, Iran’s cyber unit, and a “unit in Internal Security responsible for suppressing protests.”
More than 250 bombs were dropped by over 100 fighter jets in the “wide-scale” strike, according to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Iraq’s hopes of World Cup qualification are being impacted by the Iran war because embassy and airspace closures are preventing players from getting visas for the playoff tournament in Mexico.
The Iraqi soccer federation says it’s communicating with FIFA about its match against Bolivia or Suriname in Monterrey, Mexico, on March 31.
The federation wrote in a social media post that its coach, Graham Arnold, is unable to leave the United Arab Emirates, and several players and staff members are experiencing trouble obtaining visas.
Iraq and the UAE have been floated as potential replacements for Iran’s team — which has already qualified — should the Iranians not participate in the World Cup.
The Iran war’s disruption of Middle East oil and gas supplies and soaring prices are strengthening Russia’s ability to profit from its energy exports. That’s a pillar of the Kremlin’s budget and a key to paying for its own war in Ukraine.
The Lebanese military says they were “illegally possessing weapons and munitions.” It did not say whether the 26 Lebanese and one Palestinian were affiliated with Hezbollah or any other militant group.
Lebanon’s political authorities have criticized Hezbollah’s rocket attack on northern Israel that sparked this week’s pounding by Israeli jets of southern Lebanon and areas near Beirut.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, made the claim during a phone call Wednesday.
Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, “categorically rejected” it, according to a readout released by the foreign ministry. The minister said attacks also have targeted residential areas and critical infrastructure, including near the main airport and liquefied natural gas facilities.
This is the first engagement between Iran and Qatar made public since the war started over the weekend.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has told military intelligence officers that the operation was moved up because of “developments and circumstances” including events inside Iran and “the position of the President of the United States, and the whole possibility of creating a combined operation here.” The comments were provided by his office.
The chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the number of ballistic missiles fired by Iran is down by 86% from Saturday, with a 23% drop in missiles fired in the last 24 hours.
“And their one-way-attack drone shots are down 73% from the opening days,” Caine said.
But some experts have said Iran may be holding some weapons in reserve to prolong the conflict.
Some 60,000 Israelis had evacuated towns and cities along the border for over a year during the previous fighting with Hezbollah.
There are no current plans to evacuate Israelis this time. That’s according to Igor Abramovich, who is part of the emergency team for Kibbutz Manara.
He said there can be over 10 explosions in an hour at times. “There are people that’s really bringing up trauma for them, it’s really difficult right now,” he said.
Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the U.S. Navy fast-attack submarine used “a single Mark 48 torpedo.”
A U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the Iranian ship was the Dena.
The sinking of the Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean illustrates how the U.S. military operation against Iran is stretching far beyond the Islamic Republic’s borders. Trump has said that one of the U.S. military’s main objectives in the campaign is to wipe out its Navy.
By Konstantin Toropin and Ben Finley
Turkey’s foreign ministry has summoned Iran’s ambassador in protest over the firing of a ballistic missile that was intercepted before entering Turkish airspace, a Turkish official says.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.
By Suzan Fraser
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
One senior official said the rate of Iranian missile strikes is declining due to U.S. and Israeli success at taking out launch sites, but said Iran may be holding back some of its stocks.
A second official said it’s “definitely an issue” that countries targeted by Iran are going through their defensive missiles, and they will have to carefully manage their own stocks.
By Jill Lawless
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks says Iran has been offline now for 100 hours. This is the second such blackout this year imposed by Iranian authorities. The first was for nationwide protests in January.
NetBlocks says metrics show internet connectivity at 1% of normal levels.
NetBlocks during the previous shutdown in Iran estimated that it cost the country over $37 million.
Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath says that by the time naval ships reached the location of the Iranian ship’s sinking, “there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water.”
The U.S. military has said a torpedo from a U.S. submarine sank the ship.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197 points. The Nasdaq composite added 0.7%.
Over 20,000 of the more than 36,000 flights scheduled to fly to or from the Middle East between Saturday’s start of the war and today have been canceled. That’s according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Shipping tracker MarineTraffic.com reports the sharp trend.
The disruption is costly for the global oil trade. A fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait.
Major shipping firms have routed vessels away from the area over security concerns.
The Iranian warship sunk by a U.S. submarine was in the Indian Ocean. Hegseth called the strike the first such attack on an enemy since World War II.
Sri Lankan authorities said 32 people were rescued from the ship, which sank off their country’s coast. They said others died, without giving a number.
Sirens warning of incoming drones and projectiles have been going off almost nonstop for the past hour and a half in different parts of northern Israel. The Israeli military said that at least some of the fire came from Lebanon.
For the third time Wednesday, there are new sirens in central Jerusalem announcing incoming fire. One loud boom could be heard. Sirens also went off in Tel Aviv.
Israel’s rescue services said there were no immediate casualties from latest barrage.
“We’ve also opened up space available, seats, as C-17s and other airplanes come in to try to help folks get out,” the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says, referring to the large C-17 military transport planes.
Caine gave no details how many Americans are being helped. The U.S. State Department has urged citizens to leave more than a dozen countries.
The country’s interior ministry has just announced them.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity under military protocol, estimates there are 4,000 to 5,000 calls daily to coordinate between Israel and the U.S. across the chain of command.
The official also says top U.S. and Israeli commanders began planning the war’s opening strike three weeks ago.
The defense secretary says the timeline could go further than previously speculated.
“You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” he says. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo.”
Stephane Cohen of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies Data Analytics Center says that based on Israel’s announced targets and satellite imagery, the campaign resembles a dentist’s “root canal” — dismantling Iran’s defense infrastructure and preventing rapid reconstruction.
Targets have included missile sites, Revolutionary Guard stations, naval bases and air defense systems.
The volume of munitions and scale of visible damage far exceed last year’s 12-day war, Cohen said. In some places, the ash, dust and rubble resemble strikes on Gaza.
Cohen says it’s “everything related to the regime.”
“We have pushed every counter-UAS system possible forward, sparing no expense or capability,” Hegseth says, referencing drones. “Like I said, this does not mean we stop everything.”
On Sunday, six American soldiers were killed at an operations center targeted by an Iranian drone strike in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait.
Top U.S. military officials say U.S. forces have adequate munitions for ongoing operations against Iran.
Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was speaking to reporters.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the military used more advanced weapons at the start of the campaign, but was switching to gravity bombs now that the U.S. has control of Iranian skies, and stockpiles of the advanced weapons remain “extremely strong.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says a torpedo from a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship.
In a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, Hegseth said that the Tuesday night strike on an Iranian warship was the first such attack on an enemy since World War II.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”
An Israeli military official says top U.S. and Israeli commanders began planning the opening strike of the war against Iran three weeks ago.
The official says that once Israel’s government decided on its intention to attack Iran, Israel’s top military brass reached out to the Pentagon to coordinate the operation.
The militaries worked side by side during the opening strikes on Saturday, killing Iran’s supreme leader and dozens of other top officials. As part of the operation, top Israeli commanders went home for the weekend on Friday to deceive Iran into thinking that an attack was not imminent.
A cleric leads a group of volunteers in prayer next to a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A group of men inspect the ruins of a police station struck Monday amid the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The sun sets behind a plume of smoke rising after a U.S.–Israeli military strike in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, speak during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Konstantin Toropin)
A man carries an Iranian flag to place on the rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign is seen in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Workers remove the rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man carries an Iranian flag to place on the rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Israeli tanks maneuver near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An Iranian flag is placed among the ruins of a police station struck Monday during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Firefighters inspect the rubble as smoke rises from a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Jewish men covered in prayer shawls pray in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A coffin is carried during the funeral of mostly children killed in what Iranian officials said was an Israeli-U.S. strike Feb. 28 at a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP)
A man takes shelter in an underground metro station as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Ramat Gan, Israel Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
