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In fast-paced modern-day cricket, Jan Frylinck played a patient knock of 100 from 149 deliveries. The same batter who holds the record for the fastest T20I fifty against Zimbabwe from 13 balls, faced as many as 149 deliveries to reach three figures. This is the joint fourth-slowest ODI century in 21st century. It is also the joint ninth-slowest century in ODI cricket history. Still, Namibia ended up beating Nepal by three runs at Sportspark Maarschalkerweerd, Utrecht, on July 27. This is Namibia’s smallest margin of victory in the ODI format.
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Fylinck scored the third-slowest ODI century by an Associate team's batter. The slowest was registered by Netherlands Tom Cooper (151) balls against Afghanistan in 2010. The second-slowest belongs to Bermuda's David Hemp who took 150 balls to score a century against Kenya in 2009.
In the 21st century, the two players from full-member nations to feature in top 10 slowest ODI centuries are New Zealand's Scott Styris and West Indies' Shai Hope. Styris took 152 balls against Sri Lanka in 2007 whereas Hope faced 149 balls to ton against India in 2019.
Boon, Raja on top of list
The record for slowest ODI century belongs to Australia's David Boon. He faced 166 balls to complete his century against India in 1991. Pakistan's Rameez Raja (157 and 152 balls), Boon (166 and 146 balls) and Australia’s Geoff Marsh (156, 150) feature twice in the list of top 10 slowest ODI centuries.
Just 10 fours and a six in the innings
On July 27, Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel won the toss and opted to bowl first. Openers Michael van Lingen and Malan Kruger fell cheaply. Not a single boundary was scored for more than 20 overs. Louren Steenkamp broke the shackles with a four and a six off Gulsan Jha. Frylinck reached his fifty without scoring a boundary. He took 97 balls to reach the milestone in the 33rd over. He hit his first four in the same over. In the 38th over, Steenkamp completed his fifty from 78 deliveries.
The duo looked to accelerate but Karan KC broke the partnership. They shared a 131-run stand from 182 deliveries. Steenkamp contributed with 59 off 87 balls, featuring four fours and a six. In his 10th over, Karan dismissed Gerhard Erasmus for a single-digit score. Only one boundary was scored in last 10 overs. In the penultimate over, Frylinck completed his century. On the next ball, he was run out. His knock featured only three fours. In the final over, Karan struck twice. He conceded 10 runs despite JJ Smit and Zane Green's wickets. The boundary came off Green's bat. Namimbia managed to post 211/7 on the board.
Too many dot balls haunt Nepal in thrilling clash
Nepal openers shared a 51-run partnership in 13.2 overs. Kushal Bhurtel scored 34 runs from 47 balls including three fours and a six. He lost his wicket to Jack Brassell. In the 26th over, Brassell got Ishan Pandey's wicket as well. Aasif Sheikh tried to play the anchor role. Brassell struck again, dismissing Bhim Sharki in the 28th over. In the 32nd over, Sheikh lost his wicket. He scored 45 runs from 89 balls including four fours. When he departed, Nepal were 104/4. Dipendra Singh Airee was run out as Nepal lost half the side for 113.
Paudel tried to boost the scoring rate but Namibia bowlers kept on bowling dot balls to make the equation more than a run-a-ball. In the 48th over, Trumpelmann got the better of Paudel who scored 41 runs from 50 balls. With a well-set Aarif Sheikh in the middle and Jha new to the crease, Nepal needed 34 runs from 16 balls. The visitors needed 17 runs from the final over from skipper Erasmus. Aarif and Jha managed 13 runs as Namibia snatched a three-run win in low-scoring last-ball thriller.
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