SINGAPORE : Nepal’s men’s cricket team produced a breathtaking batting display in the Asian Games qualifier on Sunday, rewriting T20 International record books against China.
Powered by opener Kaushal Bharti’s sensational 129 off just 43 balls, Nepal posted a colossal 313 runs for the loss of only 2 wickets in their 20 overs at a venue in Singapore. The innings was a six-hitting festival, featuring a total of 29 maximums.
With this total, Nepal became the first team in T20I history to score more than 300 runs on two separate occasions. Their 313 against China is now the third-highest score in T20 Internationals, behind Zimbabwe’s 344 and Nepal’s own previous best of 314.
The most electrifying moment of the innings came in the ninth over. Facing Chinese left-arm spinner Chen Zhuo Yue, Bharti launched all six deliveries over the boundary, racking up 37 runs in a single over — the maximum possible from six legal balls.
By achieving this feat, Kaushal Bharti became only the sixth batsman in T20I history to hit six sixes in an over. He joins an elite list that includes India’s Yuvraj Singh, West Indies’ Kieron Pollard, fellow Nepali Dipendra Singh Airee, Samoa’s Darius Visser (note: spelling corrected from “Diris Wieser”), and Bulgaria’s Manan Bashir.
Bharti’s blistering knock of 129 included 16 sixes in total, powering Nepal to their mountain-like total and cementing his name in cricket’s record books.
