Kushal Bhurtel turned Nepal's June 4 qualifier against Malaysia into a one-man storm, smashing 126 off 54 balls as his side won by 167 runs in Group A of the 2026 Asian Games Men’s Qualifiers. Nepal made 275 and then bowled Malaysia out for 108, a result that pushed them into the next stage and left Bhurtel with his second century in as many matches.
The reason the search spikes now is simple: Bhurtel is doing something rare while Nepal’s men’s cricket team is moving through a tournament that now has direct consequences for the Hong Kong Vs Nepal pathway. His latest innings followed a century against China in the opening group match, where he had reached 100 from 35 balls and even struck six sixes in one over off left-arm spinner Chen Zhou Yue.
Against Malaysia, Nepal were sent in and were past 100 before the end of the seventh over. Aasif Sheikh added 68 off 24 balls before falling, but the day belonged to Bhurtel, who brought up his fifty in 25 balls and then needed only 19 more deliveries to reach his next fifty. He finished with 14 fours and eight sixes, and Nepal had already surged to 230 for two by the end of the 16th over before closing on 275.
The margin mattered even more because Malaysia had already secured their place in the 2026 Asian Games before this heavy defeat. That removes some of the pressure from their loss, but it does not soften the scale of it. Bhurtel, meanwhile, joined an elite group of only 10 male T20I batters to score centuries in consecutive matches, which is the kind of record that changes how a player is viewed the next time he walks out.
Nepal now move on to face Oman in the semi-final, while Malaysia are scheduled to meet Hong Kong. For Nepal, the next match will show whether Bhurtel’s burst against China and Malaysia was the start of a defining run or the best two-game stretch of the tournament.
