The biggest totals in the shortest format: Know the highest T20 scores

The Nepal men's team holds the record for the highest score in T20 cricket. They scored 314/3 vs Mongolia at the Asian Games 2023.

3 minBy Aarish Ansari
Hazratullah Zazai of Afghanistan cricket team.

(2019 Getty Images)

The popularity of cricket has grown leaps and bounds in the last two decades and Twenty20 or T20, the shortest format of the sport, has been at the heart of the surging mass appeal. For the uninitiated, T20 is an action-packed affair, mostly dominated by batters.

Towering sixes and darting boundaries are the highlights of the format, often resulting in gigantic totals despite each innings lasting only 20 overs.

Currently, Nepal hold the record for the highest T20 score - 314/3 scored against Mongolia in a group game at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China. It is also the highest score in T20 internationals (T20I) and the first time that the 300-mark was breached in the shortest format of the men's game.

Highest score in T20

During Nepal's record-setting innings at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field in Hangzhou, Kushal Malla scored a century in 34 balls to record the fastest T20I century by any batter. Dipendra Singh Airee's nine-ball 50 in the same innings is the fastest 50 in T20 cricket.

Mongolia were bundled out for just 41 in the match. The 273-run victory is the biggest win (by runs) in T20 cricket.

Before Nepal's rampage at Hangzhou, Afghanistan and the Czech Republic jointly held the record for the highest total in a T20 innings.

Playing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun, Afghan opener Hazratullah Zazai smashed an unbeaten 162 off 62 deliveries while Usman Ghani supported him with a brisk 73, adding a record 236-run stand for the first wicket.

Ireland responded with 194/6 in their 20 overs and Afghanistan ended up winning the match by 84 runs.

Only six months later, the Czech Republic matched the record by reaching 278/4 against Turkey in the Continental Cup on August 30, 2019.

The Czech Republic’s middle-order batter Sudesh Wickramasekara top-scored with a 36-ball 104, followed by Sumit Pokhriyal’s 79.

Replying, Turkey were bowled out for 21 runs in 8.3 overs, which is the second-lowest T20 score ever.

Before Afghanistan and Czech Republic etched their names in history, the Australian cricket team held the record with a 263/3 against Sri Lanka in 2016.

Big-hitting opener Glen Maxwell remained not out on 145 (65) while David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head made handy contributions to defeat the Lankans by 85 runs.

In 2022, Melbourne Stars from the Big Bash League in Australia also climbed up the highest T20 score table. Glen Maxwell was once again on a rampage, striking an unbeaten 154 to help the Melbourne Stars reach 273/2 against the Hobart Hurricanes.

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