CHENNAI: NEW Zealand batter Tim Seifert got a first-hand experience of what it is like to be on the receiving end of a full-blooded Finn Allen drive. At 97/0 in the 10th over in a chase of 174 against United Arab Emirates at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Allen drilled a yorker-length delivery back to Seifert. The keeper-batter got his hands up to save himself and he just about escaped unscathed even as the ricochet hit his groin, broke the stumps and left both the non-striker and the stumps down.
"He just smacked it straight at me. So, that's his own fault!," Seifert said later. "But it's a bit of a bruise." It was one of the few times when a hapless UAE bowling unit managed a dot ball as the opening partnership of Allen and Seifert won the match on their on, a thrilling exhibition of daring strokeplay resulting in 175 runs off just 15.2 overs (17x4, 8x6).
Seifert's choices of words may well be appropriate to describe his partner's form. On Tuesday, he scored an unbeaten 84, featuring five boundaries and five sixes to help Kiwis beat UAE by 10 wickets. While Allen's numbers in T20Is so far — 1450 runs in 55 matches averaging 27.35 and boasting the highest strike rate (175.33 for 1000 balls faced) — are healthy, one needs to look at the time when he began to take up franchise cricket more, by opting out of New Zealand's central contract in 2024.
In the eight T20Is he has appeared, he has scored 309 runs, averaging 51.5 and striking at 195.56.
In 2024, Allen opted out of New Zealand Cricket's central contract to seek out opportunities in franchise cricket. Ever since, he has taken part in the Big Bash League in Australia, the Hundred in England and Major League Cricket in the USA.
"(Playing for franchise cricket) was an opportunity for me to play in different conditions and learn and grow my game in conditions that we don't get exposed to too much in New Zealand. And I think, you know, working with the coaching staff there and the players really helped my game and grow my game," he said in the post-match press conference.
He was forced to the sidelines due to a foot injury in July last year. As a result, he missed out on T20I matches against Zimbabwe, Australia, England as well as West Indies. He made his return to the Perth Scorchers in the BBL.
Allen's reflection of his injury was more on how he got time with himself. "Sometimes, I think it helps with having a big training block going into a tournament, which I had before Perth Scorchers (in December 2025's BBL). So, I had the chance to just tweak a few things, work on my base, be nice and still at the crease. A few areas that I thought I needed to work on and then, yeah, just get some cricket under my belt," he said. The injury, in a way, has made him a better batter.
Allen made headlines in the 2025/26 BBL season, scoring the most runs (466) as well as hitting the most number of sixes for champions Scorchers. "That was a good thing about Big Bash before this. It was getting 10, 12 games of high-level cricket building into this World Cup. Then, (I) joined up with the team who took a lot of momentum through from that one-day series (vs India, where they won 2-1) and a lot of learnings from the T20s as well (1-4 loss). I think we're in a good place," he added.