Bangladesh A opener Habibur Rahman stormed his way into the record books on Friday, hitting a 35-ball century against Hong Kong China in Doha to register the fastest T20 hundred by a Bangladeshi cricketer.

The previous national record belonged to Parvez Hossain Emon, who reached his century off 42 balls in the 2020 Bangabandhu T20 Cup.

Habibur erased that mark with a display of power-hitting in the Rising Stars Asia Cup, helping Bangladesh A beat Hong Kong by eight wickets with 54 balls to spare.

Chasing 168, Habibur set the tone in the very first over, smashing three sixes.

He followed up with another over of three boundaries and a six, hitting 10 sixes overall — all inside the powerplay — as Bangladesh A amassed 107 runs in the first six overs.

Habibur alone scored 88 off 25 balls during the powerplay, while other opener Zishan Alam played a supporting role with 16.

Their stand of 111 off 39 balls gave Akbar Ali’s side complete control. Zishan eventually fell for 20 off 14 deliveries in the seventh over.

With 88 off his first 24 balls, Habibur briefly threatened the all-time T20 record — Uganda’s Sahil Chauhan holds the world mark with a 27-ball hundred — but he slowed in the final stretch, taking 11 balls to gather his last 12 runs.

Captain Akbar Ali then finished the chase in style with a blistering 41 not-out off 13 balls, including five consecutive sixes off Kinchit Shah. His late batting ensured Bangladesh A reached the target in just 11 overs.