Nepal demolished several T20I batting records during a 2023 Asian Games match against Mongolia at Hangzhou, including breaching 300 for the first time in the format.

The tournament opener of men’s T20I competition at the Hangzhou Asiad also marked the debut of Mongolia Men in international cricket. Their opening bowlers began well after Luvsanzundui Erdenebulgan opted to bowl, restricting Nepal to 44-1 in five overs.

Even at 95-2 after nine overs, there was little indication of what was to follow. But Kusal Malla then took 26 off Buyantushig Terbish’s first over, while bringing up his fifty off 19 balls.

Malla took another 15 balls to reach the three-figure mark. At 34 balls, this is the fastest-ever hundred in men’s T20I cricket. He eclipsed the previous record of 35 balls, jointly held by David Miller (in 2017), Rohit Sharma (2017), and Sudesh Wickramasekara (2019).

In all Twenty20 cricket, only Chris Gayle (30 balls), Rishabh Pant (32), and Wihan Lubbe (33) have reached three figures faster, while Andrew Symonds and Sean Abbott have also hit 34-ball hundreds.

Malla finished the innings unbeaten for a 50-ball 137, over the course of which he hit eight fours and 12 sixes. Captain Rohit Paudel, too, raced to his fifty in 19 balls, before falling for a 27-ball 61 off the first ball of the 19th over. At that points, Nepal’s score stood at 259-3.

With 11 balls left, Deependra Singh Airee joined Malla in the middle. Mungun Altankhuyag bowled two consecutive wides, following which Airee hit five consecutive sixes. Luvsanzundui Erdenebulgan, who had figures of 3-0-24-1 until then, came to bowl the last over.

After Malla took a single off his first ball, Airee hit a six – his sixth off as many balls – before running a two that made Nepal the first side to post 300 in a men’s Twenty20 match. He followed that with two more consecutive sixes to reach his fifty off only nine balls.

This was not merely the quickest fifty in both T20Is and all Twenty cricket, unless aided by overthrows, it is impossible for anyone to score a quicker half-century.

Airee beat the previous record, of 12 balls, by a considerable margin. Yuvraj Singh was the only one to have hit a 12-ball fifty in T20Is, while Chris Gayle and Hazratullah Zazai had done it in other Twenty20 matches.

A two off the last ball took Airee to 52 not out off 10 balls. He struck at 520, the highest strike rate for anyone to have faced at least 10 balls in a T20I innings. He beat Norman Vanua’s record of 392 (47 in 12 balls).

Nepal finished with 314-3, the highest score in men’s Twenty20 cricket by a significant margin. They also eclipsed Afghanistan’s 278-3, which was the highest in men’s T20Is.

However, in women’s T20Is, Bahrain (318-1 against Saudi Arabia) and Tanzania (314-2 against Mali) had already breached the 300-run mark.

Nepal also set a new world record for most sixes in an innings in men’s T20Is (26) – four more than Afghanistan (against Ireland) and the West Indies (against South Africa). Of Nepal’s 26 sixes, Malla hit 10, Paudel six, and Airee eight.

In response, Mongolia were bowled out for 41 in 13.1 overs as Karan KC (2-1), Abinash Bohara (2-2), and Sandeep Lamichhane (2-7) snared two wickets apiece.

Nepal won by 273 runs, the biggest margin of victory in men’s Twenty20 by a side batting first, improving upon the previous record of 257 runs (Czech Republic made 278-4 and bowled out Turkey for 21).

However, they were some distance away from Uganda’s 304-run win (they made 314-2 and bowled out Mali for 10).

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