Matthew Breetzke Profile: Biography, CPL Debut, Stats & Records
Matthew Breetzke is a South African right-handed batter who scored 150 on his ODI debut against New Zealand in February 2025 — the highest score on ODI debut in cricket history. He has captained South Africa’s ODI side, won three SA20 titles, and joins Trinbago Knight Riders for his debut CPL season in 2026.
Matthew Breetzke (born 3 November 1998, Port Elizabeth) is a South African international batter who made his T20I debut in 2023 and his Test and ODI debuts in 2024 and 2025, respectively. His ODI debut produced a world-record 150, and he became the first player to score 50+ in each of his first five ODI innings, later captaining South Africa’s ODI side. A three-time SA20 champion with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape/Durban’s Super Giants group, he has been retained by Lucknow Super Giants for two consecutive IPL seasons and signs for Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League for the first time in 2026, joining the defending champions’ title defence.
Quick Facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Matthew Paul Breetzke |
| Nickname | Breetzke |
| Date of Birth | 3 November 1998 |
| Age | 27 years |
| Birthplace | Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Height | Approx. 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Batting Style | Right-handed |
| Bowling Style | Right-arm medium |
| Playing Role | Top-order batter |
| Current International Team | South Africa (all three formats) |
| Current Domestic Team | Eastern Province / Durban’s Super Giants (SA20) / Northamptonshire (T20 Blast) |
| Current CPL Team | Trinbago Knight Riders (CPL debut season, 2026) |
| IPL Team | Lucknow Super Giants (since 2025, retained for 2026) |
| PSL Team | Not currently contracted |
| Major Franchise Teams | Durban’s Super Giants, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Northamptonshire, Lucknow Super Giants, Trinbago Knight Riders, Seattle Orcas (MLC) |
| International Debut | T20I: 3 September 2023 v Australia; Test: 21 October 2024 v Bangladesh; ODI: 10 February 2025 v New Zealand |
| Marital Status | Engaged to Megan Price (as of late 2024); not yet married |
| Estimated Net Worth | Not officially disclosed; reported franchise/contract earnings detailed below |
| Official Instagram | Search “Matthew Breetzke” — handle not consistently verified across official team pages at time of writing |
Early Life
Matthew Breetzke was born on 3 November 1998 in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), Eastern Cape — a city with one of South Africa’s richest cricketing traditions. According to widely reported accounts of his childhood, he asked his father for a red leather ball at age four and began playing almost immediately; at six, he met South African great Jacques Kallis, an encounter often cited as a turning point in his early commitment to the game.
He attended Grey High School in Gqeberha, one of South Africa’s most prolific cricket-producing schools, and was good enough to be included in the school’s first XI at just 14 years old. He briefly trained as a wicketkeeper before dropping the gloves to focus purely on his batting, and also played rugby for his school before giving it up for cricket. His parents, Kirk and Lia Breetzke, are described in multiple profiles as supportive but not themselves connected to professional sport; he has two brothers, one of whom, Chad, has also played cricket.
Two years after making Grey High’s first team, Breetzke was a regular in the South African Under-19 side, playing for the national junior team from 2015. He scored more than 1,000 runs across 25 Under-19 ODIs and was South Africa’s second-highest run-scorer at the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, where the team reached the semi-finals. He was later named captain of the South African Under-19 team.
Domestic Career
Breetzke’s senior domestic journey began with Eastern Province. He made his first-class debut for Eastern Province against Free State in February 2017 in Bloemfontein, scoring a resilient 36 in his second innings, and followed it just days later with his List A debut against the same opponent at the same venue. His T20 debut came that September, against Gauteng in the Africa T20 Cup.
It took several seasons for his numbers to catch up with his reputation. The breakthrough arrived in the 2022–23 CSA four-day competition, where he finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer, hitting three hundreds and four fifties in 14 innings at an average of 60.58. That red-ball form, allied to increasingly eye-catching white-ball hitting, pushed him into contention for national honours far more quickly than his earlier career trajectory had suggested.
He also represented the Warriors franchise from 2017/18 to 2020/21 and turned out for the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants in T20 cricket in 2019, before settling with Durban’s Super Giants as his SA20 franchise from the competition’s 2023 launch.
International Career
Breetzke’s international story has moved at a pace few South African batters have matched in the modern era. He debuted in T20Is against Australia in September 2023, but it was almost a year before he added the other two formats: his Test debut came on 21 October 2024 against Bangladesh, and his ODI debut followed on 10 February 2025 against New Zealand.
That ODI debut, in a tri-series match in Lahore, produced one of the most remarkable individual milestones in the format’s history. Facing 148 balls and hitting five sixes and 11 boundaries, Breetzke reached 150 — becoming the first batter in ODI history to score 150 in their debut innings, and breaking a 47-year-old record previously held by West Indies great Desmond Haynes, who made 148 on debut in 1978. It also made him only the fourth Proteas batter to score a century on ODI debut.
He didn’t stop there. In the innings that followed, he became the first player in ODI history to register a score of 50 or more in each of his first five innings — a run of consistency without precedent at the very start of a career in the format. That form saw his responsibilities grow quickly: by September 2025, less than a year into his ODI career, he was entrusted with captaining South Africa’s ODI side in Temba Bavuma’s absence.
His Test career has been a slower build. He has played three Test matches, most recently against Zimbabwe in June 2025, without yet reproducing his white-ball numbers in the longest format — his highest first-class score (188) and overall red-ball average (mid-to-high 30s at Test level) suggest the technique is there, but a maiden Test century is still to come. In T20Is, he has been a more occasional selection, with his white-ball ceiling more clearly visible in ODI cricket and domestic T20 leagues than in the international shortest format so far.
Franchise Cricket Career
Breetzke’s rapid rise has been built as much in franchise cricket as on the international stage, and leagues have moved quickly to secure him.
SA20: His home T20 competition has been the clearest showcase of his talent. Representing Durban’s Super Giants and later Sunrisers Eastern Cape (the same ownership group behind IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad), he was the third-highest run-scorer in the 2024 SA20 season with 374–416 runs (reported figures vary slightly by source) and has continued to deliver in the middle order — most notably in the 2026 final, where his unbeaten 68 off 49 balls alongside captain Tristan Stubbs’ 63 rescued Sunrisers Eastern Cape from 48 for 4 to seal a six-wicket win over Pretoria Capitals, securing the franchise’s third SA20 title in four seasons.
Indian Premier League: Breetzke was signed by Lucknow Super Giants for the 2025 IPL season, acquired for ₹75 lakh at the mega auction, with the deal influenced by his performances for Durban’s Super Giants — a franchise under the same RPSG Group ownership. He was retained by LSG for the 2026 season as part of a squad now built around Rishabh Pant’s captaincy and headlined by the world-record acquisition of Mohammed Shami via trade.
County cricket (T20 Blast): He signed with Northamptonshire in 2024 and was among the tournament’s top scorers in the Vitality Blast that year, later putting pen to paper on a new two-year, all-formats contract with the county — a deal his head coach Darren Lehmann praised specifically for Breetzke’s batting and fielding.
Major League Cricket: He has also featured in the United States’ MLC competition, most recently linked with the Knight Riders Group’s Los Angeles Knight Riders franchise setup, playing alongside the likes of Sikandar Raza and Shimron Hetmyer.
Caribbean Premier League: New for 2026 — see the dedicated section below.
Caribbean Premier League Career
CPL 2026 marks Matthew Breetzke’s first season in the Caribbean Premier League, and it’s arguably the clearest sign yet of how far his stock has risen in franchise cricket. He joins the tournament as part of the defending champions’ overseas rebuild — a notable statement given Trinbago Knight Riders had their pick of the world’s in-form white-ball batters.
Current CPL Team & 2026 Status
Breetzke is confirmed as one of five overseas signings for Trinbago Knight Riders’ CPL 2026 title defence, alongside Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Usman Tariq, and Sri Lankan all-rounder Amshi de Silva. He joins as one of the most exciting young batting talents in world cricket, having announced himself with a record-breaking 150 on ODI debut against New Zealand, and adds further steel to TKR’s middle order following his 2025 IPL season with Lucknow Super Giants. Local reporting has described him specifically as a 27-year-old South African middle-order batter brought in as part of TKR’s effort to maintain the core of their title-winning 2025 squad.
Expected role in 2026: Middle order, most likely batting at No. 4 or 5 behind the established opening pair of Alex Hales and Colin Munro — a role that mirrors the finishing and rebuilding position he has occupied so effectively for Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20.
Signing process: As with all CPL overseas recruitment, Breetzke’s deal was concluded through direct negotiation with the franchise rather than the CPL’s domestic draft, which is reserved for regional players. No public auction figure has been disclosed, which is standard practice for CPL overseas signings.
2026 tournament window: The CPL 2026 season opens on 8 August 2026, with Trinbago Knight Riders beginning their title defence against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, and the final scheduled for Barbados on 20 September 2026.
CPL Team History
| Season | Team |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Trinbago Knight Riders (debut CPL season) |
Because this is a debut CPL campaign, there is no season-by-season CPL performance table, prior CPL statistics, or historical “performance against every CPL team” data to report yet — any source claiming otherwise for seasons before 2026 should be treated as inaccurate. This profile will be updated as his 2026 campaign unfolds.
What to Expect This Season
Breetzke arrives in the Caribbean off the back of the best 18 months of his career: a world-record ODI debut, an ODI captaincy stint, back-to-back-to-back SA20 finals with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and a second straight IPL retention. His game — calm under pressure, comfortable rebuilding an innings from a poor start, and capable of accelerating hard in the closing overs — is well suited to the middle-order finishing role TKR need after losing depth elsewhere in their batting order. Given the strength of TKR’s top three, expect him to bat primarily in a rescue-and-accelerate role rather than facing the new ball.
Fantasy Cricket Value
For CPL 2026 fantasy squads, Breetzke is a lower-risk middle-order pick: his SA20 numbers (multiple 60+ scores in pressure finals) and ODI record for South Africa suggest reliable returns even on days TKR’s top order fires early, since he typically bats deep enough to face a large share of the death overs. As a debutant to the format and franchise, his exact CPL role and consistency are unproven, so he’s a stronger differential/value pick than a guaranteed captaincy choice in the tournament’s opening rounds.
Captaincy Potential
Breetzke already has senior leadership experience, having captained South Africa’s ODI side in 2025. However, with Nicholas Pooran established as TKR’s captain and the squad built around a settled leadership core (Pooran, Pollard, Narine), a CPL captaincy or vice-captaincy role for Breetzke in his debut season is unlikely — his value to the franchise in 2026 is as a middle-order batting weapon.
Playing Style
Breetzke is best described as a proactive top-order batter with an unusually calm temperament for a player so early in his international career — a trait multiple teammates and coaches have specifically highlighted. His Durban Super Giants captain, Keshav Maharaj has called him “a real character with a similar mindset to Virat Kohli,” praising his ability to handle pressure.</cite>
Strengths: Exceptional composure when starting an innings from a difficult position — the defining feature of his SA20 final performances — combined with genuine power through the off side and down the ground once set. His ODI debut and subsequent run of five consecutive 50+ scores point to unusually quick adaptation to international bowling standards.
Weaknesses: His Test record remains a work in progress, and his T20I returns for South Africa have lagged behind his white-ball franchise numbers, suggesting the international shortest format hasn’t yet seen the best of him. As with most middle-order batters new to a tournament, his method against genuine express pace and high-quality wrist-spin in unfamiliar Caribbean conditions is still to be fully tested.
Bowling: A right-arm medium option who is not regularly used as a front-line bowling choice at franchise or international level.
Fielding: Rated as an excellent fielder, a description that recurs consistently across scouting profiles and franchise team announcements.
Comparisons: His blend of calm accumulation followed by acceleration invites comparisons with fellow middle-order finishers like Tristan Stubbs (his SA20 teammate) and, at the international level, with the composed rebuilding style of senior Proteas batters he has played alongside, such as Aiden Markram.
Career Statistics
| Format | Mat | Runs | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 3 | ~14–30 | Low (single figures to ~10) | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| ODI | 10 | 614–650 | 60+ | ~100+ | 1 | 5 | 150 |
| T20I | 10–13 | 151+ | ~17–25 | ~120+ | 0 | 1 | 51 |
| T20 (all) | 140+ | 3,500+ | ~29 | ~132.9 | 0 | 19+ | 94 |
| First-Class | 57 | 3,417+ | 36.74 | 47.85 | 8 | 16 | 188 |
| List A | 65 | 2,053 | 34.79 | 82.61 | 2 | 13 | 150 |
| IPL | Limited appearances | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| CPL | 0 (debut season 2026) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Records & Achievements
International Records
- Highest individual score on ODI debut in history — 150 vs New Zealand, February 2025 (surpassing Desmond Haynes’ 47-year-old record of 148)
- First player in ODI history to score 50+ in each of his first five innings
- Fourth South African to score a century on ODI debut
- Captained South Africa’s ODI side within a year of his debut
League Records / Milestones
- Three-time SA20 champion with Sunrisers Eastern Cape/Durban’s Super Giants ownership group
- Leading run-scorer in the 2022–23 CSA four-day domestic competition
- Retained by Lucknow Super Giants for a second consecutive IPL season (2025 and 2026)
- Signed for CPL 2026 by defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders — his first CPL contract
Captaincy Achievements
- South Africa U19 captain
- South Africa ODI captain (stand-in, 2025)
Latest Form
Breetzke enters the second half of 2026 in excellent touch. His most recent notable innings came in the SA20 2026 final, where his unbeaten 68 from 49 balls anchored Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s title-winning chase against Pretoria Capitals. He remains part of South Africa’s white-ball setup and has a fresh IPL retention with Lucknow Super Giants for 2026, alongside his new-look Northamptonshire deal in England. There are no verified reports of any current injury concern, and all available team announcements list him as fully available for the Trinbago Knight Riders’ CPL 2026 campaign beginning in August.
Personal Life
Breetzke was born and raised in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), the son of Kirk and Lia Breetzke, with two brothers. He is widely reported to be a practising Christian, though as with most athletes’ religious views, this is a personal matter he has not made a significant public talking point.
On his personal relationships: multiple entertainment and sports-biography sites report that he began a relationship with Megan Price around 2015 and became engaged to her in November 2024.
Net Worth
Breetzke’s net worth has not been officially disclosed, and — as with most players early in lucrative careers — public estimates online should be treated cautiously. What can be verified from contract reporting is a growing and diversified set of income streams:
- SA20: Reported salary of around R175,000 for the 2024 season with Durban’s Super Giants, with subsequent seasons and title bonuses adding to his earnings as a three-time champion.
- IPL: Signed by Lucknow Super Giants for ₹75 lakh at the 2025 mega auction and retained for 2026.
- CPL: First CPL contract for 2026 with Trinbago Knight Riders; overseas fees are not publicly disclosed as a matter of CPL policy.
- County cricket: A new multi-year, all-formats contract with Northamptonshire.
- South Africa central contract and match fees: Not publicly disclosed, as is standard for Cricket South Africa.
- Endorsements: Reported to have some brand endorsement income, though specific deals are not itemised in public reporting.
Given his rapid rise across international cricket, the IPL, SA20 and now the CPL within roughly two years, his overall franchise-driven earnings are likely to grow substantially through 2026 — but any specific total net-worth figure circulating online should be treated as an unverified estimate rather than fact.
Interesting Facts
- He was born in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), a city famous for producing South African cricketers.
- He asked his father for his first cricket ball at age four.
- He met Jacques Kallis at age six, an encounter he has cited as inspiring his cricket ambitions.
- He briefly trained as a wicketkeeper before dropping the gloves to focus on batting.
- He played rugby for his school before giving it up for cricket.
- He made his first-class and List A debuts for Eastern Province within days of each other in February 2017.
- He captained South Africa’s Under-19 side.
- He was South Africa’s second-highest run-scorer at the 2018 Under-19 World Cup.
- He was the leading run-scorer in the 2022–23 CSA four-day domestic competition.
- He made his T20I debut in September 2023, well before his Test or ODI debut.
- His ODI debut, in February 2025, produced the highest individual score by any batter on ODI debut in cricket history — 150 runs.
- He is the first player in ODI history to score 50 or more in each of his first five innings.
- He is only the fourth South African to score a century on ODI debut.
- He captained South Africa’s ODI side within a year of his own debut.
- He is a three-time SA20 champion with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape/Durban’s Super Giants ownership group.
- He was signed by Lucknow Super Giants for the 2025 IPL season for ₹75 lakh and retained for 2026.
- He has a two-year, all-formats contract with Northamptonshire in English county cricket.
- CPL 2026 is his first season in the Caribbean Premier League, signed by defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders.
- His Durban Super Giants captain Keshav Maharaj has compared his temperament to Virat Kohli’s.
- He is engaged to Megan Price, with the couple together since around 2015.
Career Timeline
- 2013 (age 14): Included in Grey High School’s first XI
- 2015: Begins representing South Africa at Under-19 level
- 2017: First-class, List A and T20 debuts for Eastern Province
- 2018: South Africa Under-19 World Cup — second-highest run-scorer for South Africa; named in the Cricket South Africa Emerging Squad
- 2022–23: Leading run-scorer in the CSA four-day domestic competition
- 2023 (Sept): South Africa T20I debut vs Australia
- 2024: Third-highest run-scorer in SA20 for Durban’s Super Giants; joins Northamptonshire; named in South Africa’s Test squad for the West Indies tour; engaged to Megan Price (November)
- 2024 (Oct): South Africa Test debut vs Bangladesh
- 2025 (Feb): South Africa ODI debut vs New Zealand — scores a world-record 150, the highest score on ODI debut in history
- 2025: First to reach 50+ in each of first five ODI innings; signed by Lucknow Super Giants (IPL) for ₹75 lakh
- 2025 (Sept): Captains South Africa’s ODI side in Temba Bavuma’s absence
- 2026 (Jan): Wins third SA20 title with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, top-scoring alongside Tristan Stubbs in the final
- 2026: Retained by Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2026; new multi-year contract with Northamptonshire
- 2026 (July): Signed by Trinbago Knight Riders for CPL 2026 — his first CPL contract
- 2026 (Aug–Sept): CPL 2026 debut season with Trinbago Knight Riders
Expert Analysis
Career turning point: The 150 on ODI debut against New Zealand in February 2025 is the single clearest inflection point of his career. It converted a promising but still largely domestic-level batter into an international headline name almost overnight, and every major franchise signing since — the IPL retention, the Northamptonshire extension, the CPL deal — traces directly back to the credibility that innings created.
What makes him unique: Very few players reach the top of ODI cricket’s record books in their very first innings in the format. Combined with his composure in high-pressure T20 finals (three SA20 titles, including two match-winning finishing performances), Breetzke has built an unusually strong reputation for big-occasion cricket extremely early in his career.
Performance under pressure: His SA20 2026 final innings — an unbeaten 68 from a position of 48 for 4 — is the clearest evidence yet of his rescue-and-finish game, a skill set that maps closely onto the middle-order role TKR appear to want from him in the CPL.
Key takeaway for CPL 2026: Expect Breetzke to bat in the middle order behind TKR’s settled top three, in a finishing or rebuilding role rather than opening. His CPL numbers are unproven, but his underlying method — proven under pressure in SA20 finals and ODI cricket alike — suggests he’s a strong bet to contribute meaningfully to TKR’s title defence.
Faqs
How old is Matthew Breetzke?
Matthew Breetzke was born on 3 November 1998 and is 27 years old as of 2026.
How tall is Matthew Breetzke?
He is listed at approximately 1.78 m (around 5 ft 10 in).
Is Matthew Breetzke married?
No. He is engaged to Megan Price, with the couple together since around 2015 and engaged since November 2024, but not yet married.
What is Matthew Breetzke’s net worth?
Not officially disclosed. His verified income sources include SA20, IPL, and County contracts, plus a new CPL deal for 2026, but no confirmed total net-worth figure exists publicly.
What CPL team does Matthew Breetzke play for?
Trinbago Knight Riders signed him for his debut CPL season in 2026.
Which IPL team does Matthew Breetzke play for?
Lucknow Super Giants, who signed him for ₹75 lakh in the 2025 mega auction and retained him for 2026.
Does Matthew Breetzke play in the PSL?
No, he does not currently hold a Pakistan Super League contract.
What is Matthew Breetzke’s highest score?
150, scored on his ODI debut against New Zealand in February 2025 — the highest individual score by any batter on ODI debut in cricket history.
What records does Matthew Breetzke hold?
He holds the record for the highest score on ODI debut and is the first player in ODI history to score 50 or more in each of his first five innings.
Has Matthew Breetzke played Test cricket?
Yes, he made his Test debut against Bangladesh in October 2024 and has played three Tests to date, without yet scoring a Test century.
What are Matthew Breetzke’s ODI career stats?
As of late 2025, he had played 10 ODIs for over 600 runs at an average above 60, including one century and five fifties.
Which SA20 team does Matthew Breetzke play for?
Durban’s Super Giants and, more recently, Sunrisers Eastern Cape (both under the same ownership group); he is a three-time SA20 champion.
What is Matthew Breetzke’s playing style?
A right-handed top/middle-order batter known for composure under pressure and strong finishing ability, with occasional right-arm medium bowling.
Where was Matthew Breetzke born?
Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Which school did Matthew Breetzke attend?
Grey High School in Gqeberha, where he made the first XI at age 14.
