Matthew Breetzke: South Africa Batter’s Profile, Record ODI Debut, Stats and Career
Matthew Breetzke is the South African batter who scored 112 in the first ODI against Australia at Durban on 24 September 2026 and won the Player of the Match award. He is also the man who holds the record for the highest score on ODI debut. Here is his complete profile.
Quick facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew Paul Breetzke |
| Born | 3 November 1998, Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), South Africa |
| School | Grey High School |
| Batting | Right-handed top-order batter |
| T20I debut | 3 September 2023, against Australia |
| Test debut | 21 October 2024, against Bangladesh |
| ODI debut | 10 February 2025, against New Zealand |
| Domestic and franchise teams | Eastern Province, Warriors, Nelson Mandela Bay Giants, Durban’s Super Giants, Northamptonshire, Lucknow Super Giants |
The record debut
Breetzke’s ODI debut was historic. Against New Zealand in February 2025 he scored 150, the highest score by any batter on ODI debut, surpassing the 148 made by West Indies’ Desmond Haynes in 1978. On 22 August 2025 he scored 88 off 78 balls in the second ODI against Australia at Mackay, extending a run of fifty-plus scores to begin his ODI career. Wikipedia records him as the first player in ODI history to achieve that feat, surpassing Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had four fifties across five matches.
Career numbers
These figures are as listed on Wikipedia as of December 2025 and do not include later matches, such as the Durban century.
| Format | Matches | Runs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 12 | 706 | Average 64.18, 2 centuries at the time |
| T20Is | 13 | 158 | – |
| Tests | 2 | 14 | – |
Career path
- 2017: first-class debut for Eastern Province on 9 February 2017, followed by his List A debut four days later.
- Domestic and T20 leagues: he has played for the Warriors and in South Africa’s SA20 for Durban’s Super Giants, for Nelson Mandela Bay Giants, for English county side Northamptonshire, and for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL.
- 2023-25: he made his T20I debut in September 2023, his Test debut in October 2024 and his ODI debut in February 2025.
The Durban century
On 24 September 2026, in the first ODI against Australia at Kingsmead, Breetzke scored 112 off 106 balls, the second ODI century of his career as reported by Cricinfo, and helped South Africa reach 297 for 8. South Africa won by 67 runs. He also took a catch at cover to remove Mitchell Marsh during Australia’s chase. Read the full match report.
Why his name is trending
Searches for Breetzke rose more than 5,000 percent in India in 24 hours according to Google Trends, following the century and the win. Many fans also looked up his stats after the record-setting debut and the strong start to his ODI career.
