Nepal’s men’s senior team defeated Kuwait on Thursday to register their second consecutive win in the quadrangular series in Hong Kong. Furthermore, Nepal pulled off their highest-ever T20I chase, successfully chasing 186 with six wickets to spare.

The game also saw Nepali batters set multiple other national, as well as international, records. Firstly, the opening pair of Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh registered Nepal’s highest T20I partnership for the first wicket.

Bhurtel and Sheikh took the team to 127 runs in 13.5 overs by the time Sheikh departed for 53 off 38 (2 fours, 4 sixes).

Bhurtel, who was hammering the balls for boundaries, departed for 81 off 50 in 15.3 overs, leaving the score at 141 runs. It was Bhurtel’s 10th half-century in T20Is, the most by a Nepali batter. Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh Airee previously had nine half-centuries each under their belt.

Also, Airee, world’s No. 2 T20I all-rounder, scored 31 runs off just 12 deliveries with the help of two fours and three sixes to take Nepal closer to the target against Kuwait. Skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel and Gulshan Kumar Jha were on the crease as Nepal reached 186 runs with seven balls in hand.

Airee, who has the most runs in T20Is for Nepal (1,756 runs in 76 games), also entered the record books on Thursday. Airee entered the list of batters not to have been dismissed for a duck for the most number of games.

The game against Kuwait was Airee’s 76th T20I for Airee in the national colours since his debut at the Lord’s against the Netherlands in July 2018. Similarly, it was the 66th inning he was batting, and the 66th time he did not get out for a duck.

Airee surpassed West Indies’ Marlon Samuels to top the list of batters with no ducks in their career. Samuels held the top position before; he was not dismissed for a duck in 65 innings he batted.

Similarly, Airee is only 15 innings away from equaling the record for most consecutive innings without a duck in T20Is. The record currently belongs to South Africa’s David Miller; he was not dismissed for a duck in 90 innings from his debut in May 2010 to August 2022. India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni is second in the list with 84 innings (September 2007 to February 2019).

Likewise, Nandan Yadav is having a good start to his T20I career. Claiming a wicket in his debut against Qatar on Wednesday, Yadav took two wickets against Kuwait. Sompal Kami bagged three wickets while Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Bhurtel picked one each.

Bhurtel was adjudged the player of the match.

Nepal now have four points from two games and stand atop the points table. But Nepal’s entry to the final is still not guaranteed as a loss against Hong Kong on Saturday could create chances for the host and Kuwait.

Kuwait defeated Hong Kong in the duo’s first game on Wednesday, while Nepal defeated Qatar. Qatar suffered a second loss in the series against Hong Kong on Thursday.

If Hong Kong and Kuwait defeat Nepal and Qatar in the last game of the single round-robin league structure on Saturday, respectively, the two teams could best Nepal in net run rate and enter the final.