IPL 2021: RCB’s Finn Allen in red-hot form ahead of IPL, hits 2nd fastest 50 for NZ – Royal Challengers Bangalore and New Zealand batsman Finn Allen has smashed the second-fastest fifty for the Kiwis. He took 18 balls to complete his half-century against Bangladesh in the third T20I. He scored 71 runs off just 29 deliveries before falling prey to Taskin Ahmed. His innings comprised 3 sixes and 10 fours.
The previous best was Colin Munro who smashed fifty off just 14 deliveries against Sri Lanka in 2016. The latter had also registered two 18-ball fifties against West Indies and England in 2018.
The record for fastest T20I fifty is held by former India batsman Yuvraj Singh who smashed a 12-ball fifty against England in the inaugural T20 World Cup (2007).
Finn Allen was roped by RCB as a replacement for Australia wicket-keeper Josh Phillipe who pulled out of the IPL 2021. Finn had a base price of INR 20L equivalent to that of Josh Philippe. It will be Finn’s debut VIVO IPL season this year when he plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The 22-year-old has played 15 T20s in which he smashed 554 runs comprising 6 fifties.
The cricketer is likely to play in the middle-order as Virat Kohli has stated that he will be opening the innings for RCB in IPL 2021. Kohli is likely to open with Devdutt Padikkal who is coming on the back of an excellent Vijay Hazare Trophy. The latter was the second-highest scorer in the tournament.
RCB will play their opening fixture against Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2021 opener on April 9 (Friday).