Despite not having much experience at the international level, South Africa's Matthew Breetzke impressed once again with the bat. The 26-year-old played a fine inning of 88 runs from 78 deliveries against Australia in the second ODI of the three-match series. Notably, this was Breetzke's fourth 50+ score in the format and what is amazing here is the fact that it was only his fourth ODI.
Breetzke came in to bat at the No.4 spot after the Proteas had lost both of their openers and had been restricted to 23/2. He provided some much-needed stability to the side with his stand of 67 runs with Tony de Zorzi. The latter would eventually be dismissed on 38 runs in the 16th over, but Breetzke didn't stop and ended up forming a valiant stand with next batter Tristan Stubbs.
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The 26-year-old went on to bring up his fifty and it saw him become the first batter in history to start his ODI career with four consecutive half-centuries. While former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu had also started his career with four fifties, his knocks had come across five matches.
Breetzke has exceptional numbers in one-day cricket
Breetzke had began his ODI career with a bang and had played a sensational knock of 1`50 runs against New Zealand in February, 2025. He followed that up with a gritty inning of 83 against Pakistan. The next one-day assignment he participated in was the ongoing Australia series and he ended up playing a valiant knock of 57 in the first match. Finally, he recorded the score of 88 in the second game of the series and the fourth one-day match of his career.
Meanwhile, Breetzke eventually lost his wicket to Nathan Ellis in the 31st over and missed out on what would have been a remarkable century. Dewald Brevis once again failed to have a big impact and was sent back to the pavilion after scoring just one run. Stubbs' inning of 74 alongwith cameos from both Wiaan Mulder (26) and Keshav Maharaj (22*) helped South Africa in posting a fighting total of 277 on the board before getting bundled out. With the Proteas having a 1-0 lead, they have the chance to seal the series by recording a second consecutive win, however Australia will definitely be in no mood of losing. It remains to be seen who comes out on top in the ongoing second ODI.