Watch: Against Nepal at Kirtipur, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton of Namibia smashed the fastest T20I hundred, reaching the milestone in only 33 balls.
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Namibia were reduced to 62-3 in 10.4 overs after JJ Smit won the toss and opted to bat against Nepal in the Tri-Nation T20I Series match at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground.
At this point, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton joined opener Malan Kruger and launched a counterattack, taking only 18 balls to bring up his fifty and another 15 to reach triple figures before perishing for a 36-ball 101 with four balls left – in other words, he was at the crease for only 52 balls.
At 33 balls, this is now the fastest hundred in T20I history. He hit 11 fours and eight sixes.
Loftie-Eaton beat the previous record of 34 balls, set by Kushal Malla in the same match where Dipendra Singh Airee smashed his nine-ball fifty. Malla and Airee both bowled for Nepal against Namibia when Loftie-Eaton got his world record.
The fastest hundred by an ICC Full Member side is shared by Rohit Sharma and David Miller, both of whom needed 35 balls – a count matched by Sudesh Wickramasekara of Czech Republic.
Loftie-Eaton’s hundred is also the joint third-fastest in all Twenty20 cricket, after Chris Gayle (30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India) and Rishabh Pant (32 balls for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh). Wihan Lubbe of North West had also hit a 33-ball hundred against Limpopo.
Namibia eventually finished on 206-4 as Kruger batted through the innings with an unbeaten 48-ball 59. Nepal folded for 186 against Ruben Trumpelmann (4-29).
Loftie-Eaton claimed 2-29 as well, including the wicket of Nepal captain and top-scorer Rohit Paudel. He became the second Namibian (after Gerhardus Erasmus) and 13th cricketer overall to score a hundred and take two wickets in a men’s T20I.
Watch Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton hit the fastest T20I hundred:
AN INNINGS TO REMEMBER 🏏💥
Nicol Loftie-Eaton reaching his century & breaking the world record for Fastest T20I century🏏 101(36) #RichelieuEagles #ixu #itstorga #triodata #Airlink #Radiowave #Freshfm #NOVA #EaglesPride pic.twitter.com/SxFnZe5du1
— Official Cricket Namibia (@CricketNamibia1) February 27, 2024
