South Africa’s Matthew Breetzke continued his extraordinary start to ODI cricket with another landmark knock at Lord’s on 4 September, scoring 85 off 77 balls against England and breaking multiple records in the process.
The 25-year-old, recalled after missing the opening match in Leeds, struck seven fours and three sixes to register his fifth consecutive fifty-plus score since debut – the first player in ODI history to achieve the feat. His innings also set the record for the highest ODI score by a South African at Lord’s, surpassing Herschelle Gibbs’ 74 in 2008.
Breetzke burst onto the international stage earlier this year in Lahore during a tri-series against New Zealand and Pakistan, scoring 150 on debut. He followed that up with 83 against Pakistan, 57 and 88 against Australia, and now 85 against England.
His five innings have yielded 463 runs – the most ever by any batter in their first five ODIs. The previous landmark of four consecutive fifties belonged to India’s Navjot Singh Sidhu, who set it at the 1987 World Cup, though his came across five matches rather than in his first five innings.
South Africa has a history of players stringing together such streaks – Jonty Rhodes (2000-01), Quinton de Kock (2017 and 2019), and Heinrich Klaasen (2024-25) all managed five in a row. But none matched Breetzke’s feat of doing so from the very start of his career.
At Lord’s, Breetzke also combined with Tristan Stubbs for a 147-run stand for the fifth wicket – the third-highest for South Africa in ODIs at that position or lower. The only bigger efforts were Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers’ unbeaten 172 in Nottingham in 2012, and Marco Jansen and Klaasen’s 151 at Wankhede during the 2023 World Cup.