During their opening Asian Games match versus Mongolia, Nepal broke many records with a spectacular exhibition of power striking.
The Nepal men’s squad made history during their Asian Games group match against Mongolia on Wednesday, breaking a string of T20I records as the men’s tournament got underway in Hangzhou. Following India’s gold medal in the women’s event on Monday, Nepal set a global record in its first match, scoring 314/3 in 20 overs, becoming the first team to break the 300-run barrier in the game’s shortest format. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has previously confirmed that the Asian Games matches will be accorded T20I status.
Furthermore, Dipendra Singh Airee beat Yuvraj Singh’s long-standing record for the fastest T20I half-century, which he struck against England in the 2007 World Cup (12 balls), reaching the mark in just nine deliveries. He finished with an unbroken score of 52 in 10 balls, 48 of which were sixes.
However, that was not the end of the milestones. Kushal Malla raced past India captain Rohit Sharma and South Africa’s standout batsman David Miller to achieve the fastest T20I hundred, doing so in just 34 deliveries; both batters had reached the three-figure mark in 35. Malla hammered eight fours and twelve sixes to finish unbeaten on 137 off 50 deliveries.
Here’s the list of highest T20I scores in history:
1: Nepal – 314/4 vs Mongolia (2023)
2: Afghanistan – 278/3 vs Ireland (2019)
3: Czech Republic – 278/4 vs Turkey (2019)
4: Australia – 263/3 vs Sri Lanka (2016)
5: Sri Lanka 260/6 vs Kenya (2007)
Interestingly, Nepal had made a slow start to their innings at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field in Hangzhou, with both openers playing at a strike rate lower than 100; Malla then gave the innings a much-needed boost, forging a 193-run stand alongside captain Rohit Paudel (61 off 27 balls), before Dipendra gave the side a perfect finish, breaking a world record in the process.
In the first round of the men’s competition at the Asian Games, there are three groups with three teams each. The top team in each group will advance to the quarter-finals, where India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will compete.
Ruturaj Gaikwad will captain India, who was recently named to the ODI team for the series against Australia and featured in the first two games.
