Young Nepal batsman Rohit Paudel on Saturday surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the youngest male cricketer to score a half-century in international cricket.
Rohit Paudel smashed his maiden One Day International fifty at the age of 16 years and 146 days. Tendulkar scored his first Test fifty when he was 16 years and 213 days old.
Rohit, on Saturday, also became the youngest man to score an ODI half-century, beating Shahid Afridi, who smashed a 37-ball century against Sri Lanka. Afridi scored his first international fifty aged 16 years and 217 days.
Paudel achieved this incredible feat during the second ODI match of the three-match series between Nepal and United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Academy Ground in Dubai.
Nepal have set the UAE 243 to win the second ODI in Dubai after posting 242/9 off their 50 overs, Rohit Paudel top scoring with 55. Will it be enough to level the series?
LIVE STREAM: https://t.co/MZIRdj8a15
SCORECARD: https://t.co/ItZoiVJZYv pic.twitter.com/qNcXxLYHXx— ICC (@ICC) January 26, 2019
Nepal have set the UAE 243 to win the second ODI in Dubai after posting 242/9 off their 50 overs, Rohit Paudel top scoring with 55. Will it be enough to level the series?
LIVE STREAM: https://t.co/MZIRdj8a15
SCORECARD: https://t.co/ItZoiVJZYv pic.twitter.com/qNcXxLYHXx— ICC (@ICC) January 26, 2019
UAE are in a spot of trouble! @Sompal_Kami claimed their first four wickets in the first 6.1 overs, and now a triple-wicket maiden from @IamSandeep25 has them seven down – 57/7 in pursuit of Nepal’s 242/9. #UAEvNEP LIVESTREAM: https://t.co/MZIRdj8a15 pic.twitter.com/bzrj27A7Om
— ICC (@ICC) January 26, 2019
Paudel scored his fifty off 58 balls to help his side beat the hosts by 145 runs and take a 1-0 lead. The first ODI match was called off.
Sandeep Lamichhane, the 18-year-old, was another standout performer for Nepal in the match. Lamichhane claimed 4 wickets and conceded just 24 runs as Nepal bowled out the hosts for just 97 in their chase of 243.
It is also noteworthy that South African women’s player Johmari Logtenburg is still the youngest cricketer to score fifties in both Test and ODI cricket at 14 years.