Scotland spinner Mark Watt, averaging 9.94 in T20 cricket, hit an astonishing 41-ball hundred opening the batting in the Nepal Premier League.
Mark Watt hits 41-ball hundred in Nepal Premier League
The incredible knock will unfortunately not have any bearing on his T20 career stats, as the Nepal Premier League doesn't have official T20 status. However, it was an unbelievable effort nonetheless from Watt, not really known for his batting exploits.
This is Watt's second game in the NPL: he batted at three for Karnali Yaks in the previous game, managing 16 off 21. On Saturday, in a chase of 157 against Lumbini Lions, he was asked to open alongside former India A batter Priyank Panchal.
Watt proceeded to take apart the Lions' attack, smashing 12 sixes and six fours en route to a 41-ball century, finishing unbeaten on 114 off 44, as the Yaks chased down the target with nine wickets and 82 balls to spare.
Before NPL, Watt was plying his trade in the Canada Super60, but did not bat once in four games there.
Scorecard of the game:
Match 7, Karnali Yaks vs Lumbini Lions
vs
- Ball by ball Over
And while he has primarily batted from No.7 to 11 in T20I cricket, Watt has been pushed to open by Scotland of late. In four fixtures across June in a tri-series, he opened against the Netherlands and Nepal, but only managed scores of 5(6), 1(3), 6(9) and 9(9). In 38 T20I (and 52 T20) innings overall, he has a best of 31*.
All that was forgotten in his opening blitz on Saturday. He took 29 balls for his first fifty, before breaking into a six-hitting spree.
"Absolutely incredible. Don't know what to say," Watt said later. "A few dropped catches helped, I just tried to clear the ropes". He hit Nepal's Rohit Paudel for four sixes across five balls in the 10th over, and finished off the chase with two sixes off former Australian all-rounder D'Arcy Short.
Earlier, he had bowled a tidy spell, taking 1-16 from his three overs.
You can find the live telecast details of the Nepal Premier League here.
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