On This Day in 2023: Nepal sets world record for highest T20I team total of 314

Cricket fraternity was left stunned On This Day, as the rising Asian nation Nepal etched their name in the records galore on September 27, 2023. Notably, the Himalayan nation was playing against Mongolia in the Asian Games which was held in China's Hangzhou.

Interestingly, this was also the first time, the T20I format of cricket was introduced in the intra-continental event where mostly other games which are usually played. However, in a bid to promote cricket in the continent, some small nations too showed interest in taking up the game and field their international side. As a result, the game became one of the most historic moments in cricket's history as it saw numerous records getting shattered.

Nepal established a new benchmark in the world of T20I cricket which turned out to be a rather one-sided affair. The Everest nation went on to score the highest team score in the history of the T20Is. Batting first, they smashed a mind-boggling 26 sixes with skipper Rohit Paudel (61 off 27), Deependra Airee (52* off 10) and Kushal Malla (137* off 50) scoring most of the runs. As a result, Nepal finished with a surreal 314/3 on the board in their 20-over quota.

Malla became fastest Centurion in T20Is

Speaking of the notable performers for Nepal, the then 19-year-old batter shattered all the century-making records to break into the most elite list a batter would relish and dream of. Such was Kushal Malla's wrath that he smashed 12 sixes and eight fours during his 50-ball stay to remain unbeaten on 137*. As a result, he got past the 100-run mark in just 34 balls to break the joint record held by Team India's Rohit Sharma, South Africa's David Miller and Czech Republic's Sudesh Wickramasekara, respectively. All of them scored the quickest century in 35 balls.

Fastest Fifty by Dipendra Airee

Apart from Malla, all rounder Dipendra Singh Airee too scored quick runs for fun. He took just nine balls to get past the 50-run mark and remained unbeaten on 52. The youngster smashed eight sixes during his thrilling knock. The previous record for the quickest half-century was held by none other than India's former all rounder and world champion, Yuvraj Singh, who achieved the incredible feat during the inaugural T20 World Cup, which was held in South Africa. Not just that, he even smacked England's Stuart Broad for six consecutive sixes to set the stage on fire.

Mongolia's record defeat in T20 history

The newbies had the worst start possible to their cricketing attempts. Saying that the game was a one-sided affair would be an understatement. The reason? Mongolia managed to score a paltry 41 runs and it took them 79 balls (13.1 overs) to cross the 40-run mark. The most mind-boggling part of their innings was that the overall extras conceded by Nepal were more than the team score put up by Mongolian batters in totality. The total extras given were 23 runs while the combined score of the team excluding the extras was just 18 runs.

On This Day in 2007: Yuvraj Singh hit 6 sixes off Stuart Broad in T20 World Cup

Besides, the batter top-scored for Mongolia had contributed 10 runs while half the side (five batters) went back to the pavilion without adding a single run to the team's score. As a result, Mongolia lost the game by a gigantic 273 runs and ended up creating a world record for losing a game in terms of margin. The previous record was held by Turkey who were trumped by Czech Republic by 257 runs in 2019. Hence it would be safe to say that the Asian Games fixture turned out to be one of the most memorable matches in cricket's history.