KATHMANDU: Starting with poor performances in most of the events it took part in the Asian Games 2023 undergoing in China, Nepal created history by scoring more than 300 runs in T20 international cricket on Wednesday as they defeated Mongolia by a wide margin of 273 runs at the ongoing 19th Asian Games.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Nepal hit 314 runs in the allotted 20 overs at the loss of three wickets in Hangzhou, beating the previous highest of 278-3 by Afghanistan against Ireland in 2019.
Nepal’s Kushal Malla has also set history by scoring a century fast in T20 international cricket. He hit a century off 34 balls. He remained unbeaten on 137 off 50 balls with 12 sixes and eight boundaries.
Similarly, Dipendra Singh Airee became the player to score half a century fast. He made 50 runs off 9 balls. He set another history by hitting six sixes in the first six balls. Earlier, Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, and Hazratullah Zazai scored half a century off 12 balls each.
Malla became the second youngest player to score a century in T20 international cricket. He scored a century at 19 years and 206 days of age. Gustav Mckeon has had a name for scoring a century at the youngest age.
Similarly, Nepal’s winning margin of 273 runs was the biggest, in terms of runs, ever in a men’s T20 international — greater than the Czech Republic’s 257-run margin against Turkey in 2019.
Airee has also set a new record for strike rates. He has had a strike rate of 520 by scoring 52 runs off 10 balls.
Nepal has also hit the highest 26 sixes in T20 international cricket, beating 22 by Afghanistan against Ireland in 2019 and 22 by West Indies against South Africa this year.
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