5 unique T20I Records held by associate nation members
The ICC welcomed Mongolia, Tajikistan and Switzerland as its latest associate members. This makes it a total of 106 cricket-playing nations across the globe as of today, including 12 full members and 94 associate members.
In what was a masterstroke by the ICC, they announced T20I status for all its members from 1st July 2018 for the Women’s game. The same has been in action for the men's game from 1st January 2019. This has been instrumental in helping the game expand across different geographical territories.
The ascent of Afghanistan and Ireland in recent years to Test status from that of Associate Members is also testament to the success of this program.
The international status in T20Is for the 94 associate members has helped the game grow. Additionally, it has also given us a few insane records that will take some beating.
Here are five unique records held by Associate teams in T20I cricket:
#1 Largest Margin of Victory (By Runs)
A 304-run victory would be classified as a dominating win even in Test matches. Even in the 40+ year history of ODIs, there have been no victories with a 300+ run margin.
But Ugandan Women achieved the feat in their T20I match against Mali on 20th June 2019. Batting first, they scored a mammoth 314/2 (The only instance of a 300+ score in T20I cricket) thanks to centuries from Prosscovia Alako and Rita Musamali. They were also helped by 61 extras (including 30 no-balls) from the bowlers, who did not have a good day on the field.
Mali were then dismissed for a paltry total of 10 in 11.1 overs as Uganda romped home to a record-breaking victory.
#2 Highest and Lowest Totals in the Same Match
In a match against Turkey, Czech Republic scored 278/4, which equalled the previous best - Afghanistan’s total of 278/3 against Ireland. This is the highest Total in Men’s T20I cricket.
In response, Turkey could muster just 21, which is the lowest completed score in a T20 international match. This was the first and only instance of the same match having the highest and lowest total ever in T20 Internationals.
While a high score of 278 could be beaten by teams in the future, it is highly unlikely that we will see another match where the records for both the highest and lowest scores are broken or equalled.