Nepal’s national cricket team is set to play its 100th T20 International (T20I) match today against the Netherlands in the Scotland T20I Tri-Series.
Nepal started its journey in international T20 cricket during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2014. Since then, the team has played 99 T20I matches.
Nepal’s first T20I match was against Hong Kong, which they won. They then lost to Bangladesh but defeated Afghanistan in the same tournament.
Among the players from Nepal’s first T20I squad, only one remains active today—fast bowler Sompal Kami. However, he will miss this series due to injury.
Out of the 99 T20I matches played so far, Nepal has won 55, lost 39, drawn 2, and 3 matches ended without a result.
Top Performers:
- Batting:
- Dipendra Singh Airee is Nepal’s top scorer in T20Is with 1,756 runs in 78 matches.
- Kushal Bhurtel has scored 1,420 runs in 57 matches.
- Captain Rohit Paudel and Aasif Sheikh have 1,358 and 1,352 runs respectively.
- Bowling:
- Sandeep Lamichhane leads with 108 wickets.
- Karan KC follows with 99 wickets and could reach 100 in today’s game.
Nepal’s highest team total in a T20I match is 314 runs, made against Mongolia on September 27, 2023, during the Asian Games in Hangzhou. It was the first time any team scored over 300 in T20I history. Although this record has since been broken, it remains a proud moment for Nepal.
In that same game, Kushal Malla scored 137 runs—the highest individual score by a Nepali batsman in T20Is.
So far, five Nepali players have scored centuries in T20Is:
- Paras Khadka (vs Singapore, 2019)
- Kushal Bhurtel (vs Philippines)
- Kushal Malla (vs Mongolia)
- Dipendra Singh Airee (vs Malaysia)
- Gyanendra Malla (vs Bhutan)
Nepal’s lowest T20I total is 53 runs, recorded against Ireland on July 13, 2015, during World Cup qualifiers in Belfast.
Avinash Bohara holds the best bowling figure for Nepal in T20Is—he took 6 wickets for just 11 runs against the Maldives.
Dipendra Singh Airee also made a record by scoring a half-century in just 9 balls during the Asian Games. He hit six sixes in a single over during that match, setting a remarkable milestone.
As Nepal plays its 100th T20I match today, fans look forward to more memorable moments in the nation’s cricket journey.
