Estonia shocked tournament hosts Slovenia at the scenic Velden ground, just across the border in Austria, on the opening morning of the Division 3 Twenty20 championship on Wednesday, running up a massive 236 for seven and then restricting the Slovenians to 172.

Estonian captain Tim Heath smashed a remarkable 45-ball 113, hitting 13 fours and eight sixes in the process, and reaching his century from just 40 deliveries, but he was helped by some indifferent catching by Slovenia, who had put him down twice by the time he reached 23.

The innings had got off to a lively start with an aggressive knock by Oliver Slobodetsky, and by the time Heath was finally out, to a splendid catch by Stephen Mayland at cover off the bowling of Simon Kaucic.

Kaucic was then rewarded for some accurate bowling with three more wickets as Estonia declined a little from 174 for two to 196 for six.

They regained some momentum, however, with a powerful 10-ball 30 from wicketkeeper Anil Puri, who was run out off the last ball of the over.

236 always seemed likely to be beyond the Slovenians, but Lalitha Karunatilake gave them a good start, smacking 37 from 20 balls with two fours and three sixes.

Nand Lal Riar struck back by removing first Karunatilake and then his fellow-opener Mark Oman for 33, and with two run-outs off his own bowling by Heath, the Slovenian run-chase began to falter.

Primoz Pustoslemsek weighed in with 27 from 15 deliveries, but with Siva Arunachalam picking up four for 29, the innings closed on 172 off the final ball of the 20th over.