Top 5 highest individual scores in T20 cricket

T20 cricket has produced some of the most explosive batting performances in the history of the sport. A handful of innings stand well above the rest when it comes to the highest individual scores ever recorded in the format.

These five knocks represent the peak of T20 batting, combining power, timing and consistency across international and franchise cricket.

Here are the top 5 highest individual scores in T20 cricket:

5. Karanbir Singh

Karanbir Singh scored 164 off 57 balls, placing him fifth on the all-time list of highest individual scores in T20 cricket. The attacking batter achieved the feat for Austria in the third T20I of their tour to Hungary in June 2026, which made him break through into the top five of the remarkable feat in modern-day cricket.

Apart from 18 fours, Karanbir's innings was decorated with 12 huge sixes, meaning that 144 runs he scored came only off boundaries, which is a huge deal in any format of the game. He was dismissed on the penultimate delivery of the 18th over, as Austria posted a mammoth 322 for the loss of seven wickets on the board in just 20 overs.

4. Hamza Khan

Hamza Khan scored 164 not out off 65 balls for Rwanda, placing him fourth on the all-time list of highest individual scores in T20 cricket. The innings came against Ivory Coast in a Group A clash of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier at the Botswana Cricket Association Oval 1 Ground on May 24, 2026.

The innings is one of the most remarkable knocks produced in associate cricket. Hamza took on the Ivory Coast bowlers right from the word 'go' and staged a 196-run stand for the opening wicket alongside skipper Didier Ndikubwimana. Hamza hit nine fours and fifteen maximums in this outstanding innings of his and was also named the Player of the Match as Rwanda won by 271 runs.

3. Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch scored 172 off 76 balls for Australia against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2018. The innings is the highest individual score in T20 Internationals as of 2026.

Finch's knock included 16 sixes and 10 fours at a strike rate of 226.31. The innings broke his own previous T20I record of 156, which he had set against England in 2013. Finch is also the highest-scoring international captain in T20 cricket history. He is one of only three players in the format to have scored multiple 150-plus scores, alongside Gayle and McCullum, across a career that covered 354 T20 matches in international cricket and franchise leagues.

2. Naman Dhir

Naman Dhir scored 173 off 64 balls, placing him second on the all-time list of highest individual scores in T20 cricket. He is the latest entrant in the list, having put up a full house show for Mohali Kings against the Mohali Kings in the Sher-E-Punjab T20 League 2026 at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. Dhir, who represents Mumbai Indians in the IPL, opened the innings for the side in the afternoon clash.

His thunderous outing was laced with 16 boundaries and twelve monstrous hits out of the ground, showing no mercy at all towards the bowlers. He departed in the last over, trying to clear the long on region for a six only to find the fielder in the deep. Dhir came quite close to breaking the all-time record, but fell short by just a couple of runs.

1. Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle scored 175 not out off 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013. The innings is the highest individual score in any T20 match anywhere in the world.

Gayle's knock contained 17 sixes and 13 fours at a strike rate of 265.15. He reached his century off just 30 balls, which remains the fastest hundred in IPL history. His 17 sixes in that innings are also a single-innings record in the IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore posted 263/5 in that match, which was the highest T20 team total at the time. Gayle is one of only three players in T20 history to have scored multiple 150-plus scores, alongside Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum, across a T20 career that spanned 391 matches.