Cricket Series

Nepal create history as fastest T20I fifty and century broken

Teenager Kushal Malla has broken the record for the fastest men's T20I century held previously by a trio of players including India captain Rohit Sharma as Nepal created their own piece of history by scoring the highest total ever against Mongolia at the Asian Games on Wednesday.

Malla took just 34 deliveries to reach his century in Hangzhou, surpassing the 35-ball efforts of Rohit and David Miller from 2017 and Sudesh Wickramasekara in 2019 as Nepal amassed a whopping 314/3 from their 20 overs against Mongolia at the Asian Games.

That total was 36 runs higher than the previous best in T20I, with Afghanistan (278/3 v Ireland) and the Czech Republic (278/4 v Turkey) holding the previous highest total with their own large scores from 2019.

 

HIGHEST TOTALS IN MEN'S T20I

Nepal

314/3 v Mongolia 2023

Afghanistan

278/3 v Ireland 2019

Czech Republic

278/4 v Turkey 2019

Australia

263/3 v Sri Lanka 2016

Sri Lanka

260/6 v Kenya 2007

 

Nepal smashed a total of 26 sixes during their impressive innings, with 12 of those maximums coming from the bat of Malla and a further eight from Dipendra Singh Airee.

Malla came to the crease at the end of the fifth over with his team at 42/1 and didn't take his foot from the accelerator despite the loss of opener Kushal Bhurtel with the score on 66.

FASTEST CENTURIES IN MEN'S T20I

Kushal Malla (Nepal)

34 deliveries v Mongolia 2023

David Miller (South Africa)

35 deliveries v Bangladesh 2017

Rohit Sharma (India)

35 deliveries v Sri Lanka 2017

Sudesh Wickramasekara (Czech Republic)

35 deliveries v Turkey 2019

Sivakumar Periyalwar (Romania)

39 deliveries v Turkey 2019

 

The left-hander combined with skipper Rohit Paudel (61 from 27 deliveries) for a partnership of 193 in less than 11 overs and Airee (52* off 10 balls) joined in the fun during the final few overs to break Yuvraj Singh's record and claim the fastest T20I fifty ever in just nine deliveries.

Malla finished unbeaten on 137*, with Mongolia all out for 41 in reply as Nepal claimed an emphatic 273-run victory.

FASTEST HALF-CENTURIES IN MEN'S T20I

Dipendra Singh Airee (Nepal)

9 deliveries v Mongolia 2023

Yuvraj Singh (India)

12 deliveries v England 2007

Mirza Ahsan (Austria)

13 deliveries v Luxembourg 2019

Colin Munro (New Zealand)

14 deliveries v Sri Lanka 2016

Ramesh Satheesan (Romania)

14 deliveries v Serbia 2021

 

Nepal reached the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe earlier this year but failed to qualify for the tournament proper as Sri Lanka and the Netherlands clinched the final two places.