A record century from opener Max O'Dowd gave the Netherlands a 15-run win over Malaysia in the Tri-Nation Series T20 cricket tournament at the TU grounds in Kirtipur on Sunday.

Opener O' Dowd scored an unbeaten 133 runs for the Dutch team as they posted a mammoth total of 191-2 before restricting Malaysia at 176-8. The 28-year-old right handed batsman, dismissed for 10 runs in their opening match against Nepal, cracked 15 boundaries and six sixes in his 73-ball knock.

O'Dowd also set numerous records for the Dutch side who also registered their first victory in the Series. He became the first Dutch player to hit a T20I century and surpassed the previous highest score of 86 runs set by his captain Pieter Seelaar against Ireland in September 2019. He also eclipsed the previous best individual T20I score of 107 runs at the Kirtipur grounds set by Nepal captain Gyanendra Malla in December 2019. He became the fifth highest T20I run scorer overall.

"It is a very special moment and amazing to be the first T20I century maker for the team," said O’Dowd after the match. “I just played with freedom and with belief in what I can do.”

Electing to bat first, the Netherlands lost their first wicket for 17 runs after Tobias Visee was bowled for one run by Pavandeep Singh in the first ball of the third over. Wicketkeeper batsman Scott Edwards contributed 31 runs off 23 deliveries before he was trapped leg before by Anwar Rahman. Ben Cooper hit an unbeaten 20 runs from as many deliveries and also shared a not out 125-run stand for the third wicket with O' Dowd.

The man-of-the-match O'Dowd reached 50 runs from 38 balls and raced to his century milestone facing 59 deliveries.

The Malaysian run chase received an early jolt as they lost three wickets in quick succession with just 20 runs on board. Openers Syed Aziiz and Anwar Arudin were dismissed for seven and six runs while skipper Ahmad Faiz was out for a duck.

But Virandeep Singh, who came to bat at number four, consolidated the innings scoring 87 runs from 53 deliveries. He smashed six fences and as many sixes. He even gave a scare to the Dutch side before he was dismissed in the fourth ball of the 19th over.

As Malaysia required 37 runs for victory from the last two overs, Singh hit two sixes to Sebastiaan Braat in the first two deliveries of the 19th over and collected two from the following ball. But he was caught in the next ball by Tobias Visee as Malaysian fightback hopes evaporated with a score of 169-8.

Apart from Singh, Sharvin Muniandy and Aminuddin Ramly were the other two major scorers with 28 runs and 26 runs respectively in their kitty. Muniandy faced 20 deliveries and Ramly 15 balls before their dismissal.

The Netherlands bowlers Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede and Braat all grabbed two wickets each. Braat conceded 50-run in his four-over bowling while Dutt conceded 14 runs in his two-over spell. Leede gave away 15 runs in his two overs.

Nepal will vie against Malaysia in their second match on Monday. While Nepal have won the opening match of the Series against the Netherlands by nine wickets, the Malaysian side will be looking for their first victory when they lock horns against Nepal.

Malaysia captain Ahmad Faiz rued having conceded too many runs in the first innings. “We did give away too many runs in the first innings and that cost us today,” said Faiz. Regarding Singh’s innings, he said, “Virandeep has been our main batsman and we are looking forward to doing better in the next match. We will go with optimism with the objective of victory in our next match against Nepal.”