India, March 5 -- Finn Allen hammered a record 33-ball hundred - the fastest in T20 World Cup history - as New Zealand lived up to their reputation of being a clutch team in the knockouts with a nine-wicket thumping of South Africa in the first semi-final at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

In possibly one of the most one-sided semi-finals since the 10-wicket thrashing handed to India by England in the 2022 edition, New Zealand scored at 13.48 runs per over to cross the 170-run target with an incredible 43 balls to spare.

Once again Marco Jansen endured a nightmare, conceding 53 runs in 2.5 overs even though he had finished the South Africa innings as the only half-centurion (55* off 30 balls), taking the Proteas to 169/8 after being redu...