Matthew Breetzke continued the fairytale start to his ODI career after returning to the playing XI post an injury against England during the 2nd ODI of a three-match series at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London on Thursday (September 4).
Breetzke replaced Tony de Zorzi in the playing XI and walked out to bat at number four. The Proteas lost three wickets in no time, but the 26-year-old put up a 147-run partnership with Tristan Stubbs for the fifth, which helped the Temba Bavuma-led side set the stage to post a big total in their bid to seal a series victory after winning the first match.
Matthew Breetzke Creates History
Breetze made 87 runs in 77 balls and ensured that he had five 50+ scores in as many innings in his ODI career. The right-handed batter has made a record-breaking start to his career in the 50-over format and is the player in history to reach the milestone in each of his first five innings. Previously, Navjot Singh Sindhu held the record for the most consecutive innings with scores of 50 or more at the start of their career. The Indian star had achieved the feat during the 1987 World Cup, where he made his debut against Australia in Chennai.
Most 50+ Scores At Start Of ODI Career
| Player | Year | Country | Consecutive 50+ scores |
| Matthew Breetzke | 2025 | South Africa | 5 |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | 1987 | India | 4 |
| Tom Cooper | 2010 | Netherlands | 3 |
| Max O'Dowd | 2011 | Netherlands | 3 |
Coming into the game, Breetze already held the record for the most runs after five innings. Infact, he now has the most runs in ODI cricket history after playing one, two, three, four, and five outings in ODI cricket. The South African star has 463 runs in his career so far and is the first player to cross the 400-run mark after playing five innings.
Most ODI Runs after Five Innings
| Player | Country | Runs |
| Matthew Breetzke | South Africa | 463 |
| Tom Cooper | Netherlands | 374 |
| Allan Lamb | England | 328 |
| Temba Bavuma | South Africa | 309 |
| Phil Salt | England | 303 |
Breetzke made his ODI debut against New Zealand in Lahore, where he made 150 runs. A few days later, he put up a score of 83 against Pakistan at Karachi. In the tour of Australia this year, Breetzke played the first two ODIs and made 57 in the series opener at Mackay and 88 in the second game at Cairns.