On Monday, Matthew Breetzke made his ODI debut against New Zealand in the PAK-NZ-SA tri-series. The 26-year-old batter played a historic innings of 150 runs in his very first match. With this knock, Breetzke broke a record that had stood since 1978.
Matthew Breetzke Scores Highest Score on ODI Debut
Breetzke became the 19th batsman to score a century on ODI debut and the fourth South African to achieve this feat, following Colin Ingram, Temba Bavuma, and Reeza Hendricks. In the innings, he also shattered a 47-year-old record held by West Indies’ Desmond Haynes.
Haynes had scored 148 runs against Australia on his ODI debut in 1978, the highest by any batter on debut until now. But today, Matthew Breetzke became the first-ever player to score 150 runs on debut ODI, surpassing Haynes’ long-standing record.
However, Breetzke’s innings came to an end after reaching the 150-run milestone, as he was caught by Michael Bracewell off Matt Henry’s delivery. South Africa managed to score a total of 304 runs. When this article was published New Zealand were batting at 82 after 17 overs.
After impressive performances in South African domestic cricket, Breetzke was included in the T20I squad in 2023. However, he has yet to make an impact in T20 internationals, having scored 151 runs in 10 matches at an average of around 16. In the IPL 2025 auction, Matthew Breetzke earned his first IPL contract as Lucknow Super Giants acquired him for ₹75 lakh.
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Breetzke has played three seasons for the Durban Super Giants in SA20. In the 2024 season, he was the third-highest run-scorer with 416 runs, but he couldn’t replicate that form in 2025, as he managed to score only 117 runs in nine SA20 matches. However, scoring 150 runs on his ODI debut will surely boost the youngster’s confidence. Breetzke is not part of South Africa’s Champions Trophy squad and after the tri-series, will next be seen in IPL 2025.
