Matthew Breetzke, a wicketkeeper for South Africa, made history by becoming the first batter in ODI history to score 50 or more in four straight starts. Breetzke broke the 48-year-old record set by former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu during the second ODI match against Australia with a commanding 88 off 78 at the Great Barrier Reef Arena.
Notably, Breetzke has only played four ODIs and achieved half-centuries in each of those games, whereas Sidhu began his career with four consecutive fifties, although those were over five matches. Breetzke already has a global record after smashing 150, his first 50-plus score in his first encounter against New Zealand in Lahore earlier this year, to become the player with the highest score on his ODI debut.
He struck 83 in the same series against Pakistan, marking his second half-century. In the first game of the three-match series, the wicketkeeper-batter scored 57 runs, but the Proteas won by 98 runs thanks to a fifer from spinner Keshav Maharaj. He only played in one game, scoring 14 runs, thus his opportunities were few.
