By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: MWP.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius has rewritten the record books, smashing an unbeaten 188 off 79 balls to break Chris Gayle’s long standing record for the highest individual score in men’s T20 cricket.
The 20 year old South African produced one of the most extraordinary innings in the format’s history on Friday night, powering the Titans to a 124 run victory over the Knights in the YesPlay Pro20 Cup at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.
Pretorius struck 15 fours and 13 sixes at a remarkable strike rate of 237.97 as the Titans posted 267-3, before dismissing the Knights for 143.
His score surpassed Gayle’s unbeaten 175 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in the 2013 Indian Premier League, a record that had stood for more than 13 years.
Pretorius gave himself little time to settle. He danced down the pitch for the first two balls of the match, hitting a boundary and a six. He did not stop dominating.
He reached his half century from just 24 balls, needed another 16 deliveries to reach three figures and brought up 150 from 58 balls. He eventually finished 188 not out, 12 runs short of what would have been the first double century in men’s T20 cricket.
The innings was his third T20 century and came in only his first appearance of the 2026 27 domestic season.
The left handed opener arrived in Bloemfontein in formidable form after scoring 94 and 101 in his previous two matches for South Africa against Zimbabwe and Namibia in September.
His latest performance took that form to another level. Pulls, hooks and straight drives repeatedly cleared the boundary, while even the less conventional shots found their mark. All seven Knights bowlers conceded at more than 10 runs an over as Pretorius took control of the innings.
Titans captain Donovan Ferreira added a late surge with 29 from 11 balls, helping push the total beyond 260.
The Knights never came close in reply.
Jacques Snyman made 32 from 12 balls and Gihan Cloete scored 39, but the home side were eventually bowled out for 143. Ferreira completed an impressive all round contribution with 3-16 from four overs.
The 124 run victory gave the Titans a commanding result, but the night belonged entirely to Pretorius.
His 188 is now the highest individual score in men’s T20 cricket, overtaking Gayle’s famous 175. At international level, Australia’s Aaron Finch remains the record holder with 172 against Zimbabwe in 2018.
Pretorius also equalled Finch and Marcus Stoinis for the longest innings in men’s T20 cricket by balls faced, with all three having faced 79 deliveries.
The magnitude of the performance is even more striking given his age and relatively limited international experience. Pretorius has played only 22 internationals across formats, including 17 T20s, three ODIs and two Tests for South Africa.
He has, however, already established himself as one of the most destructive young batters in the country. Across his 91 T20 appearances, he now has a strike rate of 150.44.
The Titans’ 267-3 was also the second highest total in CSA T20 Challenge history, behind their own 271-3 against the Knights in 2022. That match featured the previous competition record individual score, Dewald Brevis’s 162.
Pretorius has now claimed that record too.
On a night when the Titans produced the second highest team total in the competition’s history, their young opener produced an innings that stood above everything else.
Chris Gayle’s record had survived for more than a decade. Pretorius needed 79 balls to take it away.