During the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Nepal and Mongolia clashed in a match that shattered numerous records. Nepal took the batting position and managed to rack up an astonishing 314-3 within just 20 overs. In contrast, Mongolia faced a swift dismissal, tallying a mere 41 runs in 13.1 overs.
One of the most extraordinary feats of the match was Nepal’s Kushal Malla’s scintillating performance. He etched his name in history by scoring the fastest T20I century, achieving this remarkable milestone in an astonishing 34 balls. This accomplishment surpassed the previous record held jointly by David Miller of South Africa, India’s Rohit Sharma, and the Czech Republic’s Sudesh Wickramasekara, who had each taken 35 balls to reach a century. Malla remained unbeaten with an astounding 137 runs from 50 balls, comprising eight fours and 12 sixes.
In the same game, Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee made a significant impact by smashing the fastest fifty in T20I cricket in just nine balls. This achievement eclipsed the previous record set by Yuvraj Singh, who had taken 12 balls to reach his fifty.
Nepal’s victory against Mongolia was nothing short of domination, with a winning margin of 273 runs, setting a new record for the largest victory in terms of runs in all T20 matches. The previous record had been held by the Czech Republic, with a 208-run victory against Panama in 2021.
Airee’s performance was further highlighted by his extraordinary strike rate of 520 during his unbeaten innings of 52 off 10 balls. This marked the first instance in T20 cricket where a batter had achieved a strike rate of over 500 in an innings of 10 or more balls. The previous record was held by Malcolm Waller, with a strike rate of 430 against Matabeleland Tuskers in Zimbabwe’s domestic T20 competition in 2016.
Nepal’s record-breaking spree didn’t end there, as they also set a new record for the most sixes in a T20 international by a team, hitting a staggering 26 sixes. This surpassed the previous record of 22 sixes, achieved by Afghanistan against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019 and by West Indies against South Africa in Centurion earlier in the same year.
Also, see:
Top 5 players with most sixes in ODI World Cup history
