New Zealand opening batter Finn Allen entered the record books on Wednesday following his 62-ball 137 against Pakistan in the third T20I in Dunedin. Allen now holds the record for the highest T20I score by a New Zealander, surpassing Brendon McCullum's previous best of 123. He also equalled Afghanistan's Hazratullah Zazai for carting most sixes in a T20I, 16 to be precise. In the sixth over, he hit Rauf for 27 runs, including three sixes and two fours. Speaking during the mid-innings break, Allen revealed that he had cracked a deal with Rauf ahead of the series.
Allen revealed that Rauf agreed that he wouldn't bowl him any bouncers and he would repay by not taking him on. However, Rauf bowled two bumpers in that over, and the Kiwi youngster collected maximum runs on both occasions.
"Yes, we had a bit of a deal before the series that he [Rauf] wouldn't bowl me any bumpers and I wouldn't hit any back at him. He bowled me a bumper, so...," he said with a laugh in the mid-innings break," Allen told the broadcasters.
Allen also opened up on his 125-run partnership with Tim Seifert, who hit a handy 31 off 23 balls.
"We (him and Seifert) assessed the wicket you know. We thought that strong positions and good cricket shots would give us, sort of, good rewards, and having Tim there, we had a bit of a laugh on the way. It was good fun, yeah," he added.
Allen also revealed head coach Gary Stead's advice of keeping things simple.
"I have been keeping things simple, putting in the work throughout the series and trying to go into the game with the same gameplan," he concluded.
New Zealand lead the five-match series 3-0 with two games to spare.
The fourth T20I between New Zealand and Pakistan will be played on January 19 in Christchurch.