Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton scored the fastest T20I century as Namibia defeated Nepal by 20 runs in the first match of the Nepal Tri-Nation T20I Series at the TU International Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Batting first, Namibia scored a mammoth 206 runs for the loss of four wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Nepal lost all their wickets and folded for 186 runs in 18.5 overs.
Namibian openers Michel Van Lingen and Malan Kruger added 36 runs for the first wicket. Although Nepal managed to control Namibia until the first half of the innings, the Namibian innings exploded after Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton arrived at the crease. Loftie-Eaton clubbed eight sixes and eleven fours to score 101 runs from 36 balls. He entered the record books by reaching his century in just 33 balls, breaking Kushal Malla’s previous record of a century in 34 balls. Kruger scored 59 runs off 48 balls.
Rohit Paudel took two wickets for Nepal while Karan KC and Abinash Bohara claimed one wicket each.
Nepal made a poor start in the chase of 207 as opener Kushal Bhurtel fell to the very first ball of the Nepali innings. Another opener, Aasif Sheikh, also fell in the third over with just 20 runs on the board. Although the Nepali middle order formed important partnerships, none of the Nepali batters could bat long into the innings. Dipendra Singh Airee top-scored for Nepal with a 32-ball 48, which included two sixes and two fours, while Rohit Paudel scored 42 runs from 24 balls, clubbing three sixes and as many fours. Kushal Malla scored 32 runs, Sompal Kami contributed 26 runs, and Gulsan Jha chipped in with 12 runs. Other Nepali batters failed to reach double digits.
Ruben Trumpelmann took four wickets for Namibia, while Bernard Scholtz, Jan Frylinck, and Loftie-Eaton claimed two wickets each.
Nepal meets the Netherlands in the second match of the tri-series on Wednesday.
