Young South African batter Lhuan-dre Pretorious broke West Indian legend Chris Gayle’s record of highest individual score in T20 cricket as he slammed a swashbuckling 188* off 79 deliveries for the Titans in the CSA T20 Challenge fixture against the Knights at the Manguang Oval in Bloemfontein on October 2, Friday.
In the process, the left-hander surpassed Gayle’s record of 175 made in the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while plying his trade for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Here are the top five scores in T20 cricket
5) Hamilton Masakadza – 162
Former Zimbabwe opener Hamilton Masakadza once slammed 162 while playing for the Mountaineers against the Mashonaland Eagles in the Domestic T20 Competition in 2016. Masakadza’s 71-ball unbeaten knock contained 14 fours and 11 sixes and is the fifth-highest individual score in all T20 cricket currently.
4) Karanbir Singh and Hamza Khan – 164
Rwanda’s Hamza Khan and Austria’s Karanbir Singh had both smashed 164 against Ivory Coast and Hungary, respectively. Both the innings also came earlier this year; however, Hamza’s innings is ranked higher among the two, given it was an unbeaten knock.
3) Aaron Finch – 172
Ex-Australian white-ball skipper Aaron Finch’s 172 remains the highest individual score in T20Is. The right-hander’s record T20 score came against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club in July 2018 as the Aussie struck 16 fours and 10 sixes.
2) Chris Gayle – 175*
Veteran West Indian batter Chris Gayle’s tally of 175has stood down after 13 years but it was inevitably in danger, given how new territories were being unlocked in the shortest format at a breakneck speed. The Jamaican’s unbeaten innings off only 66 deliveries with 13 fours and 17 sixes as he took the Pune Warriors’ bowlers to the squad at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
1) Lhuan-dre Pretorious – 188*
While Lhuan-dre Pretorious has played only a few matches for South Africa thus far, he has established himself as a powerful striker of the ball in the shortest format. Aged only 20, the southpaw strikes at 154.58 in T20 cricket with three centuries and 17 fifties in the format. Given his new record, Pretorious is bound to take his T20 batting to greater heights in the coming months and years.