Nepal T20I Tri-Series 2024: Namibia's Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton Hits Fastest-Ever Century

Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton - remember the name! The Namibian on Tueaaday smashed the fastest century in the history of T20 International cricket, helping his team beat hosts Nepal by 20 runs in the opening match of the tri-nation series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur. (Streaming | More Cricket News)

The 22-year-old reached the century, his maiden international ton, in 33 balls with the help of 11 fours and eight sixes. He thus broke Kushal Malla's record by one ball. Interestingly, Malla was one of the fielders sent on the Kirtipur leather hunt by the left-handed batter from Windhoek.

Malla, 19, had achieved the feat during the Hangzhou Asian Games last year during Nepal's record-breaking batting show against Mongolia, a team total of 314/3. The fastest T20I century record in 35 balls was jointly held by Australia's David Miller, India's Rohit Sharma and the Czech Republic's Sudesh Wickramasekara.

On Tuesday, batting first, Namibia were in a spot of bother when Jan Frylinck was stumped by Aasif Sheikh off Rohit Paudel in the 11th over. Then entered Loftie-Eaton.

From 62/3 in 10.4 overs, Namibia reached 206/4 in 20 thanks to Loftie-Eaton's 101 off 36 balls and opener Malan Kruger's unbeaten 59 off 48. In his first 10 balls, Loftie-Eaton scored 23. In the next 10 deliveries, the youngster added 37 more, reaching his half-century in 18 balls with a four. 20 balls and 60 runs.

In the next 10 legal deliveries he faced, Loftie-Eaton scored 30 runs off the bat while also running one leg bye. A single off the last ball of the 18th, and he reached 90. A six off the first ball in the penultimate over, a dot, then a four.

100 runs in 33 balls, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton thus created a new cricket history. The 92 runs he scored in boundaries were also the most by a batter in T20Is.

Loftie-Eaton made his international debut in a T20I match against Uganda at Windhoek on April 03, 2021. He has so far played 36 ODIs and 33 T20Is, and has scored 803 and 283 runs, respectively. Besides being a reliable wicketkeeper, Loftie-Eaton can also operate as a leg-spinner. He has 24 international wickets -- 16 in ODIs, and eight in T20Is.

In reply, Nepal were dismissed for 186 in the 19th over with Ruben Trumpelmann taking four wickets for 29 runs. Bernard Scholt, Jan Frylinck and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton took a brace. Dipendra Singh Airee, who scored 48 off 32, was Nepal's top scorer, while skipper Rohit Paudel made 42 off 24.

The JJ Smit-led Namibia will take on the Netherlands in the third match on Thursday at the same venue.

Here are the remaining fixtures

2nd Match: Nepal vs Netherlands on February 28 (Wednesday)

3rd Match: Namibia vs Netherlands on February 29 (Thursday)

4th Match: Nepal vs Namibia on March 01 (Friday)

5th Match: Nepal vs Netherlands on March 02 (Saturday)

6th Match: Netherlands vs Namibia March 03 (Sunday)

The final will be played on March 5, 2024.