FINE FORM Proteas batter Matthew Breetzke should be a shoe-in for South Africa after the Champions Trophy. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
It’s not often a player scores 150 on their One-Day International debut like Matthew Breetzke did for South Africa. In fact, he was the first player to achieve the feat.
For many, that performance against New Zealand in the warm-up series for the Champions Trophy would have led to expectations that the youngster would play a big part in the tournament itself.
Of course that’s not the case, as the warm-up Tri-Nation series involving Pakistan and New Zealand saw a number of Proteas players called up who were not actually part of the Champions Trophy squad.
It was a disjointed squad used for the Tri-Nation series as many of the players who would feature in the Champions Trophy, had still been committed to the end of the SA20.
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It meant that even though the 26-year-old produced an incredible performance in his first ODI series, he would have to wait for some time before he could be considered again for another series for the Proteas. Breetzke even went on to add another fine innings in his second match with a knock of 83.
His ODI batting average now stands at 116, which is quite staggering after just two games.
Interestingly in his first match he opened the batting, and then for the next game he came in at number three.
Though he has just made his international step-up, Breetzke has played 112 T20s, 61 List A matches and 57 First Class games. It means he already has some serious experience in the game, and there’s every chance he can go on to have a long career for the Proteas.