Historic 188-Run Knock Shatters Chris Gale’s Longstanding T20 Milestone

Luan-Dre Pretiorius rewrote the T20 record books on October 3, 2024, when he struck 188 runs from just 79 balls in the CSA T20 Challenge. The innings eclipsed the 13‑year‑old benchmark set by former West Indies captain Chris Gale, whose 175* had stood as the highest T20 score since 2013.

Gale's innings was a blend of power and precision, featuring 17 sixes and 13 fours against Pune Warriors. Pretiorius topped that with a ferocious 13 sixes and 15 fours, demonstrating an even greater level of dominance.

The match, played at Bloemfontein’s Blissfield, saw the Titans post a colossal 267 for three in their 20‑over spell. Pretiorius reached his fifty in just 24 balls, followed by a century in the next 16, before moving onto the record‑breaking total.

The Knights, bowled out for 143 in 17.2 overs, could not recover, succumbing to a 124‑run defeat. Pretiorius, a left‑handed wicket‑keeper bat, is already a fixture in South Africa's national squads across all formats and is hailed as a future leader of the side.

His domestic statistics underline his class: a Test double century, multiple half‑centuries in ODIs, and now a record‑shattering T20 performance that cements his place among the game's elite.