Last Updated on 13 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
Chris Gayle’s 13-year record for highest individual score in men’s T20 cricket has been broken. The West Indian great hit 175* off 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Pune Warriors, which has now been bettered by South African young gun Lhuan dre-Pretorius.
Here is a look at the top five highest individual scores in men’s T20 cricket.
What is the highest individual score in men’s T20 cricket? A look at the top five
1. Lhuan-dre Pretorius 188* (79) for Titans against Knights, CSA T20 Challenge 2026
20-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius smashed 15 fours and 13 sixes in a historic innings at Bloemfontein. Batting first, the Titans scored 267/3, with Donovan Ferreira’s 11-ball 29* the next-highest score.
Pretorius reached 50 off 24 balls and then went into complete overdrive. His next fifty came off just 16 balls, before taking just a further 18 deliveries to reach 150.
As of 3 October 2026, Pretorius has 2,577 T20 runs at an average of 30.67 and strike rate of 154.58 in 91 T20s.
2. Chris Gayle 175* (66) for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Pune Warriors, IPL 2013
Chris Gayle took Pune Warriors apart on a famous April afternoon in 2013 at the Chinnaswamy. He smashed 175 out of RCB’s 263 on a day where other batters – apart from AB de Villiers – struggled for rhythm.
Gayle hammered a whopping 17 sixes – the third most in a T20 innings. He also struck 13 fours.
“When Gayle bats like that nobody wants to bowl, especially on a wicket like this where the ball comes on well onto the bat. All I can say is that it’s tough luck for the bowlers if he decides to bat like that,” said then-Pune Warriors bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as quoted by Cricinfo.
3. Aaron Finch 172 (76) for Australia against Zimbabwe, 2018
Aaron Finch’s 172 against Zimbabwe in 2018 remains the highest individual score in a men’s T20 International. The then-Australian captain obliterated the Zimbabwean attack in Harare, hitting 16 fours and 10 sixes.
Finch and D’Arcy Short put on 223 for the opening wicket in 19.2 overs, of which Short contributed just 46. Finch’s 172 made up 75% of Australia’s total of 229, which proved 100 too many for Zimbabwe.
4. Hamza Khan 164* (65) for Rwanda against Ivory Coast, 2026
In one of the most one-sided matches of all-time, Hamza Khan smashed 164 off 65 balls in Rwanda’s 288/2 against Ivory Coast in their T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier. Khan hammered 15 sixes and nine fours in a dominant display.
In response, Ivory Coast were bowled out for 17. The margin of 271 runs is the third-biggest in the history of men’s T20I cricket, behind Zimbabwe’s 290-run win over Gambia in 2024 and Nepal’s 273-run win over Mongolia in 2023.
5. Karanbir Singh 164 (57) for Austria against Hungary, 2026
Opening the batting for Austria against Hungary in the third T20I, Karanbir Singh hammered 164 off 57 balls which, to this date, is the fifth-highest individual score in men’s T20s. He smashed 18 fours and 12 sixes.
Remarkably, Karanbir’s strike rate of 287.71 wasn’t the highest in his team. Abidullah Kotwa, batting at seven, smashed 93* off 26 balls to take Austria past 300.
In response, Hungary’s lower order showed some resistance, but they were never in the hunt. They were bowled out for 165, a huge 158 runs short of the target.
