Namibia batter Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton smashes fastest T20I hundred

Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton has smashed a record-breaking T20I hundred in men’s cricket in a match against Nepal. He has now the fastest T20I hundred to his name as he has registered the same in just 33 balls.

Loftie-Eaton records new milestone

Loftie-Eaton brought up the century while playing in the opening match of the tri-nation series in Nepal. While achieving the feat, he surpassed Nepal’s Kushal Malla who had set the milestone in just 34 deliveries against Mongolia. Malla had recorded the same in the Asian Games last year.

Interestingly Malla was present on the ground today when Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton broke his record. Malla’s innings had helped Nepal score a massive 314/3 against Mongolia. In the same game, Dipendra Singh had scored the fastest T20I fifty in just nine balls.

What happened in the match between Namibia and Nepal?

Loftie-Eaton scored 101 off 26 balls including 11 fours and eight maximums and took the team score to 206/4 in 20 overs. His innings came in a brilliant strike rate of 280.56 after Namibia won the toss and batted first. They started well following Michael van Lingen (20 off 19) and Malan Kruger (59* off 48) contributing 36 in six overs.

With 62/3 on board, Loftie-Eaton teamed up with Kruger, and the two stitched together a 135-run stand for the fourth wicket. In the process, Loftie-Eaton first reached his half-century in just 18 balls before going for the huge record-breaking hundred. The 92 runs Loftie-Eaton scored in boundaries were also the most by a batter in T20Is. Later, Loftie-Eaton also picked up two wickets for 29 runs from his three overs and Nepal were bowled out for 186 in the 19th over.