Nepal's Kushal Malla scripts special record in ODIs: Details here
What's the story
Nepal is one of the latest teams to have earned the status of One-Day International (ODI) by the International Cricket Council (ICC). As they enjoy the newly-earned fame, they are also putting up some record-breaking performances. Meanwhile, Kushal Malla has become the youngest batsman to hit a half-century in the format. Here are further details on this.
The record
Malla breaks the record held by his compatriot
Malla struck his half-century off 51 deliveries during their ICC World Cup League 2 match against the United States of America (USA), near Kathmandu. In the process, he became the youngest ODI half-centurion, at the age of 15 years and 340 days. As a result, he went past the previous record held by his compatriot Rohit Paudel (16 years and 146 days).
Malla's career
This was Malla's maiden match of the format
This was Malla's maiden match, not just in ODIs, but in the 50-over format (List A). He has only scored 50 runs yet. Meanwhile, he has played just three Twenty20 (T20) matches, which, incidentally, again are T20Is, having scored just seven runs. He is yet to play a First-Class match. He is also a left-arm orthodox spinner and claimed 1/30 in this tie.
Match report
How did the match pan out?
After being invited to bat first, Nepal were bundled out for a below-par total of 190, courtesy Cameron Stevenson's 3/30, while Malla and Binod Bhandari struck respective half-centuries. In reply, Nepal struck back with the ball, as Karan KC claimed 4/15, while Ian Holland's strong knock of 75 was not enough to save the USA, who fell short by 35 runs.