Finn Allen smashes 47-ball century as KKR thump Delhi by eight wickets at the Jaitley
Finn Allen's first IPL century, an unbeaten 100 from 47 balls with five fours and ten sixes, turned a 143-run chase at the Arun Jaitley Stadium into a procession on Friday. Kolkata Knight Riders won the 51st match of IPL 2026 by eight wickets, finishing on 147 for 2 in 14.2 overs and leaving Delhi Capitals with a seventh defeat of the campaign.
Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and put Delhi in. Pathum Nissanka set the early tempo with a 29-ball fifty, finding the boundary often enough to keep the run rate up, but the innings never settled. KL Rahul fell for 23 in the powerplay, Nitish Rana edged out cheaply, and Anukul Roy struck twice in the eleventh over, stumping Nissanka for 50 and then bowling Tristan Stubbs through the gate. Ashutosh Sharma's 28-ball 39 dragged the home side to 142 for 8, a total that already looked light on a true Jaitley surface and was about to look much lighter.
Allen's blitz turns the chase into a procession
Allen had set the tone in the powerplay, but it was after the field went back that he detonated. He reached his fifty in 28 balls and then needed only nineteen more to bring up his maiden IPL hundred. The ten sixes were the third-highest tally in a KKR innings, behind Brendon McCullum's thirteen against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on the opening night of IPL 2008 and Andre Russell's eleven against Chennai Super Kings in 2018. Allen also became the second New Zealand batter to score an IPL century after McCullum himself.
Cameron Green stayed largely a spectator at the non-striker's end, contributing an unbeaten 33 from 27. Rahane was run out for a 9-ball 13 after a sharp piece of fielding from Mitchell Starc, but the Allen-Green stand was unbroken from there to the finish. Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam combined for nine overs of spin and went for 102 with only one wicket between them. KKR closed the chase out with 34 balls to spare.
Where the playoff race stands
This was Kolkata's fourth straight win since their season turned, lifting them to nine points and into seventh place on the table. The mathematical hope is real but slim, with four games left and no margin for error. Delhi, meanwhile, slip to eighth on eight points with seven losses in eleven matches and now look effectively done.
At the top, Sunrisers Hyderabad continue to lead on 14 points after their 33-run win over Punjab Kings in midweek, with Punjab second on 13. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans are bunched on 12, while Chennai Super Kings sit sixth on ten. The playoff cut-off looks set to harden around the 16-point mark.
Related Tags:
Cricket Updates
