History! Lhuan-dre Pretorius registers highest-individual score in T20 history
What's the story
South African cricketer Lhuan-dre Pretorius has shattered Chris Gayle's long-standing record for the highest individual score in men's T20 cricket. The 20-year-old achieved this feat by scoring an unbeaten 188 off just 79 balls while playing for Titans against Knights in the CSA T20 Challenge at Bloemfontein. This knock was laced with 15 fours and 13 sixes. Pretorius fell just 12 runs short of what could have been a historic first T20 double-century.
New benchmark
Pretorius smashes Gayle's record
Pretorius reached his half-century in just 24 balls and completed his century in another 16 deliveries.
The left-handed opener's blistering innings surpassed Gayle's previous record of 175 not out for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Pune Warriors in the IPL back in 2013, as per Cricinfo.
He even matched Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis for the longest innings in men's T20s by balls faced (79).
Match impact
Titans post 2nd-highest total in CSA T20 Challenge history
Pretorius's explosive batting helped Titans post a massive total of 267/3, the second-highest in the history of the competition.
The only team to have scored more runs in an innings is Titans themselves, who had posted 271/3 against Knights in 2022.
In that match, Dewald Brevis had also scored a stunning 162 runs.
Now, Titans hold the top five highest team totals in CSA T20 Challenge history.
Player profile
Who is Lhuan-dre Pretorius?
Pretorius is one of South Africa's most promising young cricketers.
He was born on March 27, 2006, in Potchefstroom and made his mark at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup as South Africa's leading run-scorer.
His senior debut came in SA20 for Paarl Royals during the 2025 season, where he was the tournament's leading run-scorer with 397 runs despite being only 18 at that time.
Career expansion
Record-breaking debut and IPL contract
Pretorius made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in 2025 and scored a stunning 153 in his second innings.
He became the youngest player to score 150 in men's Test cricket at the age of 19 years and 93 days.
His performances also earned him an IPL contract with Rajasthan Royals.
Since then, he has represented South Africa across formats, adding international experience to his rapidly growing career.
Pretorius has now raced to 2,577 T20 runs from 91 games at 30.67 (SR: 154.58). This was his third ton (50s: 17).