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UAE's star batter Asif Khan has taken the cricketing world by storm after his record-shattering century against Nepal in an ODI match on Thursday (March 16). Asif smoked the 41-ball century which is the fourth fastest ton in the ODI history. Moreover, it was the fastest ton ever by any player from an associate nation in ODIs.
In the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 match which is being played in Kirtipur, the 33-year-old whipped a stunning 42-ball 101 to leave the batting juggernauts like Virat Kohli (52 balls), Jos Buttler (46 balls), Mark Boucher (44 balls) and Brian Lara (45 balls) behind in terms of slapping fastest ODI ton.
Fastest centuries in ODIs
AB de Villiers (SA): 31-ball ton
Corey Anderson (NZ): 36-ball ton
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan): 37-ball ton
Asif Khan (UAE): 41-ball ton
Mark Boucher (SA): 44-ball ton
Beside Asif, UAE innings witnessed other superb performances like their captain's 63 off 49 deliveries and wicketkeeper-batter Vriitya Aravind's 94 off 138 who helped their side post a huge total of 310/6. Asif clobbered the Nepal's bowlers left, right and centre. He bludgeoned four boundaries and 11 big ones in his lightning knock. Nepal captain Rohit Paudel looked helpless as even his star spinner Sandeep Lamichhane wasn't as effective as he usually is and went on to give away 80 runs in his ten overs. Riding on the superb performances from their batters, UAE have managed to post 310 runs on the board in their quota of 50 overs. While Nepal have been in good form in their recent matches, this would be a daunting task for them especially after having lost their first four wickets with 98 runs on the board. UAE would now be determined to clinch a big win in this fixture as it would reflect on the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 where they currently placed sixth. The table is currently being topped by Scotland who have 50 points from 36 matches.
However, in the all-important match under the ICC World Cup League-2 triangular ODI series on Thursday, Nepal beat the UAE by nine runs according to Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. With this win, Nepal has made it to the ODI World Cup qualifiers.
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