Nepal create history as fastest T20I fifty and century broken
Malla took just 34 deliveries to reach his century in Hangzhou, surpassing the 35-ball efforts of Rohit and David Miller from 2017 and Sudesh Wickramasekara in 2019 as Nepal amassed a whopping 314/3 from their 20 overs against Mongolia at the Asian Games.
That total was 36 runs higher than the previous best in T20I, with Afghanistan (278/3 v Ireland) and the Czech Republic (278/4 v Turkey) holding the previous highest total with their own large scores from 2019.
HIGHEST TOTALS IN MEN'S T20I
| Nepal | 314/3 v Mongolia 2023 |
| Afghanistan | 278/3 v Ireland 2019 |
| Czech Republic | 278/4 v Turkey 2019 |
| Australia | 263/3 v Sri Lanka 2016 |
| Sri Lanka | 260/6 v Kenya 2007 |
Nepal smashed a total of 26 sixes during their impressive innings, with 12 of those maximums coming from the bat of Malla and a further eight from Dipendra Singh Airee.
Malla came to the crease at the end of the fifth over with his team at 42/1 and didn't take his foot from the accelerator despite the loss of opener Kushal Bhurtel with the score on 66.
FASTEST CENTURIES IN MEN'S T20I
| Kushal Malla (Nepal) | 34 deliveries v Mongolia 2023 |
| David Miller (South Africa) | 35 deliveries v Bangladesh 2017 |
| Rohit Sharma (India) | 35 deliveries v Sri Lanka 2017 |
|
Sudesh Wickramasekara (Czech Republic)
|
35 deliveries v Turkey 2019 |
|
Sivakumar Periyalwar (Romania)
|
39 deliveries v Turkey 2019 |
Nepal beat USA by six wickets to seal first win in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023.
The left-hander combined with skipper Rohit Paudel (61 from 27 deliveries) for a partnership of 193 in less than 11 overs and Airee (52* off 10 balls) joined in the fun during the final few overs to break Yuvraj Singh's record and claim the fastest T20I fifty ever in just nine deliveries.
Malla finished unbeaten on 137*, with Mongolia all out for 41 in reply as Nepal claimed an emphatic 273-run victory.
FASTEST HALF-CENTURIES IN MEN'S T20I
| Dipendra Singh Airee (Nepal) | 9 deliveries v Mongolia 2023 |
| Yuvraj Singh (India) | 12 deliveries v England 2007 |
| Mirza Ahsan (Austria) | 13 deliveries v Luxembourg 2019 |
|
Colin Munro (New Zealand)
|
14 deliveries v Sri Lanka 2016 |
|
Ramesh Satheesan (Romania)
|
14 deliveries v Serbia 2021 |
Yuvraj Singh became the first batsman to hit six sixes in an over in the shortest format when he took on Stuart Broad in the 2007 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Nepal reached the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe earlier this year but failed to qualify for the tournament proper as Sri Lanka and the Netherlands clinched the final two places.