Asian Games: Nepal smash T20I records with win over Mongolia
Nepal men's cricket team started their 2023 Asian Games campaign by hammering a total of 314/3 against Mongolia in their 20 overs. This is the first time a team has scored 300-plus in T20Is. Nepal registered a 273-run victory over Mongolia. Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh recorded the fastest T20I century and fifty, respectively. This is the largest-ever victory in T20I cricket.
Nepal broke Afghanistan's record for the highest T20I total
Nepalese batters went haywire against the Mongolian bowling attack as they amassed 314/3 from their 20 overs. As mentioned, this was the first time a team crossed the 300-run mark in T20I cricket. Nepal broke Afghanistan's 278/3 against Ireland in 2019, which was the previous record in this format. Nepal smashed 26 sixes, the most by a team in a T20I innings.
Fastest ever T20I century for Malla
Malla was the architect of such a mammoth score for Nepal as he finished with 137* from 50 balls. His knock was laced with 12 sixes and eight boundaries. Malla reached the triple-figure mark in only 34 deliveries, which is the fastest in this format. He broke the record of Indian opener Rohit Sharma and SA's David Miller, both recorded in 35 balls.
Dipendra breaks Yuvraj Singh's fastest T20I fifty record
Dipendra was sensational with his hitting as he hammered the fastest fifty in T20I cricket in only nine balls. Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh held the previous record when he reached his T20I fifty in 12 balls against England in the 2007 World Cup. Dipendra slammed eight sixes from his 10 balls on his way to a 52*-run knock.
Biggest win in T20I cricket
Nepal bundled out Mongolia for 41 and registered a 273-run victory. Notably, this is the highest margin of victory in all T20s. The previous biggest margin was Czech Republic's 257-run win against Turkey (2019). Dipendra had a strike rate of 520. This is the first time in T20s a batter scored at a 500-plus strike rate in an innings of 10-plus balls.
Most sixes struck by a team in an innings
Nepal slammed a total of 26 sixes during their journey to 314/3 in 20 overs. They have hammered the most sixes by a team in T2OIs. The previous highest were 22 sixes, by Afghanistan against Ireland (2019) and by WI against SA earlier this year.
Second-youngest centurion in men's T20Is
Malla, who was aged 19y and 206d on Wednesday, became the second-youngest centurion in men's T20Is. At the moment, France's Gustav Mckeon has scored two centuries in men's T20Is before turning 19 years old. Notably, this was the first century of the Asian Games. Before this, Pakistan's Khalid Latif scored a ton in 2010 against China, but the tournament didn't have T20I status.
