South Africa batter Matthew Breetzke broke a world record with his half-century against Australia on Friday (August 22).
Matthew Breetzke breaks world record with fourth consecutive ODI fifty
The second ODI between the sides kicked off at the Great Barrier Reef in Mackay, with Proteas stand-in skipper Aiden Markram winning the toss and choosing to bat first. The visitors were rocked early as seamer Xavier Bartlett accounted for Markram and fellow opener Ryan Rickelton inside the first six overs, the latter bringing Breetzke to the crease at 23-2.
2nd ODI, Australia vs South Africa
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After taking a few balls to settle in, Breetzke went after Aaron Hardie in the eighth over, taking 16 runs off the pacer with two sixes and a four. He rebuilt the innings alongside Tony de Zorzi, and eventually made it to a half-century in the 20th over, off 46 balls.
That was Breetzke's fourth ODI half-century, in his fourth match, having started his career with scores of 150 against New Zealand, 83 against Pakistan and 57 against Australia in the first ODI of his series.
Read more: Highest score on ODI debut, full list: South Africa opener breaks 47-year all-time record
Friday's knock made him the first man ever to score fifty-plus in each of his first four ODIs. Former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu is the only other player to score fifties in their first four innings, but Sidhu's knocks came either side of a game against Zimbabwe where he did not bat as India chased down 136 to record an eight-wicket win.
Prior to today, only two players apart from Breetzke had made fifty-plus scores in each of their first three men's ODIs; the Dutch pair of Tom Cooper (80*, 87, 67 in 2010) and Max O'Dowd (86*, 59, 82 in 2019-21).
Breetzke continued scoring at a good clip even after reaching his fifty, before he was dismissed for 88, mis-timing a pull shot off Nathan Ellis for Alex Carey to take a simple catch in the deep. Had he been able to reach a triple-digit score, he would have joined Nick Knight, Dennis Amiss, Colin Ingram and Mohammad Shahzad as the only men to score two centuries in their first four ODI innings.
Most runs in first four men's ODI innings, full list
| Name | Team | Runs | 100s | Avg | S/R |
| Matthew Breetzke | South Africa | 378 | 1 | 94.50 | 103.27 |
| Temba Bavuma | South Africa | 280 | 1 | 70.00 | 96.55 |
| Allan Lamb | England | 279 | 1 | 93.00 | 86.92 |
| Nick Knight | England | 277 | 2 | 92.33 | 83.69 |
| Tom Cooper | Netherlands | 273 | 0 | 91.00 | 66.42 |
| Desmond Haynes | West Indies | 272 | 1 | 68.00 | 73.51 |
| Dennis Amiss | England | 268 | 2 | 67.00 | 70.71 |
| Bill Athey | England | 259 | 1 | 86.33 | 76.40 |
| Colin Ingram | South Africa | 256 | 2 | 85.33 | 94.81 |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | India | 254 | 0 | 63.50 | 90.39 |
| Fakhar Zaman | Pakistan | 252 | 1 | 63.00 | 113.00 |
| Clive Radley | England | 250 | 1 | 83.33 | 68.12 |
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