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Nepal and Mongolia locked horns in the curtain-raiser of the Men’s cricket event in the Asian Games 2023 on September 27. Rohit Paudel-led Nepal were the overwhelming favorites to win the contest and they lived up to their billing with a record-shattering win at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field.

Mongolia’s captain Luvsanzundui Erdenebulgan won the toss and invited Nepal to bat first. Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh played watchfully before being dismissed for 19 and 16, respectively. Carnage ensued from this point onwards as Kushal Malla and Rohit Paudel stitched a 193-run stand off just 65 deliveries. The former broke the record for the fastest T20I century when he reached the three-figure mark off just 34 balls. He finished unbeaten on 137 off 50 deliveries.

After Paudel got out for 61 off 27 balls, only 11 balls were left in the Nepal innings. However, it was enough for Dipendra Singh Airee to break Yuvraj Singh’s record of the fastest fifty in T20I cricket. While the legendary Indian batter achieved the feat in 12 balls in the 2007 T20 World Cup against England, Dipendra took just nine balls to reach the mark. He scored 52 off just 10 deliveries, hitting eight sixes in the process.

Paudel and Co. finished their sparkling innings at 314/3 in 20 overs. This was the highest team total in T20I cricket, going past Afghanistan’s score of 278/3 against Ireland in 2019. Nepal hit a staggering 26 sixes during the innings and it went past Afghanistan’s world record for most in a T20I, where the Asian side mustered 22 hits over the ropes.

In reply, Mongolia were skittled out for 41 in 13.1 overs, giving Nepal a massive 273-run win. This is the biggest margin of victory in terms of runs in T20I cricket.