Asian Games 2023: Kushal Malla of Nepal creates history; scores a 34-ball hundred

Nepal men's team created history during its Asian Games 2023 group A match against Mongolia on Wednesday. They broke plenty of T20I records in the first game of the men's tournament in Hangzhou. Nepal put up an incredible score of 314/3 in 20 overs, becoming the first team to breach the 300-run mark in the shortest format of the game. Dipendra Singh Airee broke Yuvraj Singh's long-standing record of fastest T20I half-century. Kushal Malla then went on to break the record of scoring the fastest century in T20Is.

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Yuvraj Singh scored 50 against England in 12 balls during the 2007 World Cup. Dipankar reached the mark in just nine deliveries. He ended with an unbeaten score of 52 in 10 balls, with 48 of them coming in sixes. Kushal Malla then went past India captain Rohit Sharma and South Africa's star batter David Miller to score the fastest T20I hundred, reaching the mark in just 34 deliveries. Rohit and Miller both had reached the three-figures in 35 deliveries. Malla smashed 8 fours and 12 sixes, and remained unbeaten on 137 off just 50 deliveries.

Nepal had a slow start to their innings in the first match of the Asian Games 2023 at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field in Hangzhou. Malla gave a much-needed boost by constructing a 193-run stand alongside captain Rohit Paudel (61 off 27 balls) before Dipendra gave the side a perfect finish.