Pretorius Smashes Gayle's T20 Record with 188 Not Out
Lhuan-dre Pretorius has broken Chris Gayle's record for the highest score in men's T20 cricket with an unbeaten 188. The 20-year-old South African played the innings for Titans against Knights in the CSA T20 Challenge at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, according to BBC Sport. T20 is cricket's shortest senior format, with each team facing 20 overs and each over made up of six balls.
Pretorius faced 79 balls and was still batting when Titans completed their 20 overs. That is what not out means. He reached fifty off 24 balls, then moved from fifty to a hundred in just 16 more deliveries. He passed 150 off 58 balls and kept scoring to the close.
He finished with 15 fours and 13 sixes. A four is scored when the ball reaches the boundary rope, a six when it clears the rope without bouncing. The innings came at a strike rate of 237.97, a measure of runs per 100 balls. In simple terms, he scored at well over two runs per ball faced.
Titans closed on 267 for 3, which means 267 runs for the loss of three batters. Knights were bowled out for 143 in 17.2 overs in reply, meaning all their batters were dismissed before using their full 20 overs. Chasing 268 meant Knights needed more than 13 runs per over from the start. Titans won by 124 runs. In T20, where chases often go to the final over, that is a one-sided margin.
The previous record was 175 by West Indian Chris Gayle, as noted by The Citizen. He set it for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in the 2013 Indian Premier League. Gayle reached his hundred off 30 balls in that innings, according to contemporary reporting Reuters. His mark had stood for more than 13 years before Pretorius moved 13 runs beyond it.
Pretorius is already an established international despite his age. He has played 17 T20s, three one-day internationals and two Tests for South Africa. This record came in domestic cricket, but on a first-class ground and in an official T20 competition. Fifties and hundreds matter even more in T20 because batters have so few balls to build an innings.
What makes this stand out is the way the pace quickened. The first fifty took 24 balls. The second took 16. Knights tried different bowlers and plans, but the scorecard tells its own story. Once Pretorius was set, there was no way to slow him down.
