Who is LSG recruit and South Africa's record-breaking centurion Matthew Breetzke? Biography, Career, Stats & More

Rising star batter and gun fielder Matthew Breetzke made his much-awaited ODI debut for South Africa (SA) against New Zealand (NZ) in the second ODI of the Pakistan Tri-Nation Series 2025, on Monday, February 10. Notably, both teams are sharpening their team's tactical acumen along with compositions for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 edition. The hosts of the ICC mega cricket event is being hosted by Pakistan and they are the third team of this ODI series.

The winner of the tournament opener, New Zealand are clashing with South Africa in Lahore today. In the ongoing match, South Africa were put in to bat first by the Kiwi skipper, Mitchell Santner. Batting first, South Africa who fielded a relatively inexperienced team for the tri-series, started with the captain Bavuma leading from the front with his partner, Matthew Breetzke.

Though the Proteas lost their skipper early on after the pair put in a 37-run stand, Breetzke got support from Jason Smith as they put up a 93-run partnership to bail the side from the early trouble. Even though the African side lost another wicket in the form of their wicketkeeper, an unfazed Breetzke not only smashed his maiden ODI century while on debut but also converted it into a whirlwind knock of 150 runs off 148 balls. As a result, he became only the fourth South African to have scored a century while on debut in the ODIs.

Early progress of Breetzke domestic cricket

Meanwhile, shedding light on how the Virat Kohli-like mindset batter rose through the ranks through the domestic cricket circuit as deemed by his Durban Super Giants' captain Keshav Maharaj, the batter is known for his aggressive batting approach. Breeztke kept on performing well in the domestic T20 cricket setup. Speaking of his early cricketing journey, the ravishing batter started by playing for Grey High at the tender age of 14.

Also Read: Is Champions Trophy harder than World Cup? Bavuma thinks so!

Thereafter, just two years later, he broke into the Under 19 side of South Africa and scored over 1,000 runs in 25 ODI games he played at the youth level. Notably, his breakthrough year happened in 2018, when he plundered the opposition with his batting carnage and ended up being the second-highest run-getter in the tournament. From there on, he went on to feature in the emerging squad of South Africa against Sri Lanka in the same year.

Following those experiences, he played for Eastern Province in 2018-19 season. He followed it up by playing in Cricket South Africa's (CSA) four-day First-Class tournament. Breetzke yet again wreaked havoc with his batting exploits and finished as the highest run-getter. During these games, he went on to score three centuries and four half-centuries, respectively. Remarkably, he also maintained an impressive average of 60.58 as well.

Lucknow Super Giants pick Breetzke for IPL 2025

Matthew Breetzke continued to show good form in the shortest format but missed out on the World Cup bus. Eventually, he decided to play in The Hundred by representing the Northants. Despite not getting the chance to play in national colours for South Africa, he was earmarked by the popular IPL (Indian Premier League) franchise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). During the mega IPL 2025 auctions, LSG picked the big hitter for INR 75 lacs. Many fans and experts are hopeful that Breetzke will get the chance to show his fireworks during the upcoming IPL 2025.