Matthew Paul Breetzke (born 3 November 1998) is a South Africancricketer.^[1] He made his international debut for theSouth Africa national cricket team in September 2023 and has played all three formats of the game for the side.

Born atPort Elizabeth in 1998 and educated atGrey High School,^[1] Breetzke has played domestically forEastern Province since 2017.

Breetzke made hisfirst-class debut for Eastern Province in the2016–17 Sunfoil 3-Day Cup on 9 February 2017^[2] and hisList A debut in the2016–17 CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge on 12 February.^[3] He made hisTwenty20 debut in the2017 Africa T20 Cup on 1 September the same year.^[4]

In December 2017, he was named in South Africa's squad for the2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.^[5] In July 2018, he was named in the Cricket South Africa Emerging Squad^[6] and in September 2018, was named inEastern Province's squad for the2018 Africa T20 Cup.^[7] In September 2019, he was named in the squad for theNelson Mandela Bay Giants team for the2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.^[8]

In April 2021, Breetzke was named in the South Africa Emerging Men's squad for their six-match tour ofNamibia.^[9] Later the same month, he was named in Eastern Province's squad, ahead of the 2021–22 cricket season in South Africa.^[10]

Breetzke made his international debut in aTwenty20 International (T20I) match againstAustralia in September 2023. He played in two T20Is against thetouring Indians in December 2023, beforetouring the West Indies with the South African T20I squad in May 2024.^[11]

Later in 2024 he made hisTest match debut againstBangladesh, playing in the first Test of the two-match series during South Africa's tour]] in October. He was dismissed for aduck in his only innings of the match.^[11]

In February 2025, Breetzke was named in the squad for theTri-Series in Pakistan.^[12] He made hisOne Day International debut on 10 February againstNew Zealand during a tri-series in Pakistan ahead of the2025 ICC Champions Trophy. He scored a century on his debut,^[13] making 150 runs, setting a new record for the highest score on debut in an ODI debut, surpassing the 148 made by West IndianDesmond Haynes in 1978.^{[14][15][16][17][18]} During his second ODI on 12 February he scored 83 runs, setting a new record for the most number of runs by any batsman after their first two ODI innings.^[19]

In August 2025, during the second ODI against Australia at Mackay's Great Barrier Reef Arena, Breetzke scored 88 runs off 78 balls. This innings marked his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score in ODIs since his debut, making him the first player in ODI history to achieve such a feat.^[20][21] This performance surpassed the previous record held by Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had four fifties across five matches.^[22][23]

Breetzke's consistent performances have significantly contributed to South Africa's success in the series, with the team securing an 84-run victory in the second ODI, thereby clinching the three-match series 2-1.^[21]

In September 2025, he was named in the Proteas T20I squad for their tour of Pakistan, as well as named captain of the ODI squad in the absence of regular skipper Temba Bavuma.

• Matthew Breetzke atESPNcricinfo

• 1998 births
• Living people
• South African cricketers
• South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers
• 21st-century South African sportsmen
• Eastern Province cricketers
• Warriors cricketers
• Nelson Mandela Bay Giants cricketers
• Durban's Super Giants cricketers
• Lucknow Super Giants cricketers
• Northamptonshire cricketers
• South Africa Test cricketers
• South Africa One Day International cricketers
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