Fastest T20I hundred belong to Namibia batter Jan Nicol-Loftie Eaton

Published on February 27, 2024

Namibia batter Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton is now the record holder for fastest T20I hundred. In franchise T20 cricket and domestic level combined, Chris Gayle still holds the same record. Meanwhile, in the first T20I between Nepal and Namibia in a lead up to the T20 World Cup 2024, Eaton quite literally ate the home team. In the game, the Eagles won the toss and batted first.

They had a poor start as they lost three wickets for 62 runs in 10.4 overs. At this stage, the left-hander, Eaton came out to bat and joined the opening batter Malan Kruger, who was watching the procedings happening in the middle. They put together 135 runs in just 8.4 overs. During this, the 22-year-old hit a 33-ball hundred, which is now a world record.

On the other hand, Kruger remained unbeaten at 59 and both helped the team to 206/4. Eaton ended with 101 off 36 balls including 11 fours and eight sixes. In reply, the Rhinos started poorly as they lost both their openers with only 20 runs on the board. Despite this, with the aim of winning the game, skipper Rohit Paudel and Kushal Malla put together 57 runs in just 4.4 overs.

Apart from them, Dipendra Singh Airee and Sompal Kami also played cameos but failed to take the team over the line. In the end, the African sided ended up winning the game by 20 runs. This was the first game of the tri-nation series between Nepal, Netherlands, and Namibia.

Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was part of Namibia’s first win against Test playing nation Sri Lanka

Meanwhile, the African nation has played two T20 World Cups (2021 and 2022). In both editions, the team won one game each, ie. against Scotland (2021) and Sri Lanka (2022). Notably, they have qualified for the 2024 edition alongside first timers, Uganda. Among the teams from the ongoing tri-nations, all three teams have qualified for the tournament. The Dutch side finished fourth in Super 12 group while Nepal played the final of the Asia Region qualifiers and will play in the global event for the first time.