20-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius now holds the record for the highest individual score in T20 cricket.
Titans opening batter Lhuan-dre Pretorius celebrates his century in their Pro20 Cup clash against the Knights at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Friday night. Picture: Charle Lombard/Gallo Images
Titans big hitter Lhuan-dre Pretorius has broken West Indian legend Chris Gayle’s T20 individual scoring record after he slammed 15 fours and 13 sixes in an unbeaten 188 off just 79 balls for his franchise in their Pro20 Cup clash against the Knights at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Friday night.
Gayle held the previous record for the highest individual score in T20 cricket, after he smashed a 175 not out off 66 balls for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Pune Warriors in the 2013 edition of the IPL.
It obviously also eclipsed the previous highest T20 score by a South African, which was funnily enough held by his Titans teammate Dewald Brevis who hit 162 off 57 against the same opponents, the unfortunate Knights, in Potchefstroom in 2022.
Pretorius’s record helped the Titans rack up a massive 267/3 batting first, which is now the second highest T20 team score in South Africa, after it failed to pass the 271/3 they scored during Brevis’ blitz in 2022.
It was the second world record that Pretorius has broken in the past month, after the 20-year-old became the youngest player from an ICC Full Member nation to score a T20 International century, when he hit 101 off 53 balls against Namibia last month.
Pretorius was extremely chuffed with his effort and admitted during the innings break that he didn’t even know he had broken Gayle’s record.
Records come and go
“I didn’t even know that. Flip he’s a legend of the game. But I said when I scored my hundred in Namibia, I broke a record there, but I just said records come and go, you just always try give your best,” said Pretorius.
“I feel really good. Playing for the badge is really cool, I love the Titans. They accepted me since my final year in school and I just love playing for them and putting on the sky blue clothing. It’s amazing, I don’t have words.”
Pretorius also spoke of the mindset in the team, that has seen the openers at the top of the order going incredibly hard in the tournament so far, with Sinethemba Qeshile hitting 59 off 25 balls and 56 off 18 in the first two games, while Leus du Plooy hit 77 off 28 in the first.
“I didn’t play the first few games because I was injured, but I remember sitting in the first strategy meeting and coach Gobes (Titans coach Rivash Gobind) said we need to get 300 (total) once this tournament,” explained Pretorius.
“So that’s our mindset, we go out there to hit the ball as hard as we possibly can, and I think that’s where T20 cricket is going at the moment
“Leus and Q (Qeshile) had a brilliant first two games (opening the batting) and they started really quick, so I had big shoes to fill, and luckily it paid off. It was my day today and hopefully the next day it’s someone else’s.”
Overall it was a one-man show from Pretorius in the Titans innings, with the next best score an unbeaten 29 off 11 from Donovan Ferreira, while Du Plooy hit 17 and Qeshile 14.
