Kushal Bhurtel continued his record-breaking form with a second straight century as Nepal defeated Malaysia by 167 runs in the Asian Games Men’s Qualifier on Thursday in Singapore.

Nepal posted 275-7 in 20 overs after losing the toss and being put into bat, before restricting Malaysia to 108-9 in reply. The win gave Nepal back-to-back victories and the top spot in Group A.

Bhurtel smashed 126 off 54 balls with 14 fours and eight sixes, following his 129 against China earlier in the tournament. The knock made him only the tenth batter in men’s T20 internationals to score centuries in consecutive innings, joining players such as India’s Sanju Samson, England’s Phil Salt and South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw.

Bhurtel has scored 2,240 runs in 78 matches, overtaking Dipendra Singh Airee, who had 2,211 runs from 98 matches, to become Nepal’s leading run-scorer in T20 internationals.

Airee, the captain, made 31 off 11 balls in the same match.

Bhurtel has also become the first Nepali player to score three centuries in T20 internationals. Apart from his recent knocks against China and Malaysia, he had earlier scored an unbeaten 104 against the Philippines during the 2022 Global World Cup Qualifier. Four other Nepali batters have also scored a century each in T20 internationals.

Aasif Sheikh provided rapid support with 68 off 24 balls as he and Bhurtel added 134 runs inside nine overs, setting up a dominant platform.

Nepal’s innings featured quick contributions from Sundeep Jora (15), Lokesh Bam (10), Karan KC (7), and Sompal Kami (1 not out), while Rohit Paudel fell for a duck. Kushal Malla remained unbeaten on nine runs.

For Malaysia, Virandeep Singh took three wickets, while Vijay Unni and Syed Aziz picked two each.

Chasing 276, Malaysia never recovered after losing wickets in clusters. Captain Syed Aziz top-scored with 54 off 45 balls, but the rest of the batting line-up collapsed under sustained pressure.

Sher Malla led Nepal’s bowling with three wickets for 14 runs. Sandeep Lamichhane, Airee, Karan KC, Kushal Malla and Sompal Kami took one wicket each as Malaysia were bowled out in 20 overs.

Nepal had earlier beaten China by 221 runs, underlining their dominant start to the qualification campaign.