Lhuan-dre Pretorius smashes Gayle's T20 record score

Lhuan-dre Pretorius made history by smashing Chris Gayle's T20 record score with an unbeaten 188 off 79 balls. The 20-year-old South African batsman, playing for the Titans against the Knights in the CSA Challenge, opened the batting and smashed 13 sixes and 14 fours. This surpassed Gayle's previous record of 175 runs scored against Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League back in 2013.

Pretorius reached the milestone in 50 balls and hit another 18 to reach 150. Gayle himself scored 175 runs off 66 balls, including 17 sixes and 13 fours. The 20-year-old has been representing South Africa in all three international formats and made his first appearance for the Titans this season, scoring 226 runs in total in the recent three-nation series in Namibia.

With 13 overs faced, Pretorius dominated the strike, facing the equivalent of more than 13 overs, tying Australians Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis for the most balls faced in a T20 innings. The Titans finished their innings at 267-3, bowling out the Knights for 143 to win by 124 runs. Their total of 267 runs was the second-highest in the competition's history, behind their 271 runs scored against the Kings in 2022, where Brevis had hit 162 runs.

This time, however, Pretorius made his mark, becoming the new T20 record holder with his incredible innings.