Breetzke getting 'comfortable' in new role at No. 4 in ODIs
He is performing an entirely different role having been pushed down with Markram, de Kock and Bavuma forming the top three, but he's coped well
ESPNcricinfo staff
05-Dec-2025 • 5 hrs ago
Matthew Breetzke is South Africa's highest run-scorer of the series so far • Getty Images
Matthew Breetzke's ODI career started solidly as he consistently scored runs from the top of the order. In this ODI series, though - his first both in India and against India - he is performing an entirely different role.
Breetzke has been pushed down to No. 4 with senior players Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock and the captain Temba Bavuma forming the top three, and he's coped well, scoring a match-winning half-century during South Africa's chase of 359 on Wednesday.
"Obviously, I'm just getting more experience now batting at four, which I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable in the role," Breetzke said on the eve of the series decider in Visakhapatnam. "So that helps, and I think the more I play at number four and in this role, hopefully the better I'll get."
The two games against India provided him with two different situations to deal with as well. In Ranchi, he went in with South Africa having lost a lot of wickets and in need of recovery. In Raipur, they were chasing a bigger total but had a solid foundation.
"Obviously, the first game there was a little bit of trouble that we were in, so I had to sort of build the innings and then in the second game it was about just managing the guys that were coming in.
"We lost obviously Aiden [after his century] and then I had to sort of manage [Dewald] Brevis there and then just managing those guys and letting them bat around me, they've got the explosive power - it was just about really looking to build a partnership with them."
Breetzke also highlighted the depth and power in South Africa's batting line-up. "I think we've got a nice balance in our side with a couple of guys that are just proper batters, and then you've got powerhouses like Brevis and [Marco] Jansen that can sort of change the game on its head.
"We've seen [Corbin] Bosh in the last two matches play some really special innings, I think as the top four, it gives you a lot of confidence; you can take a little bit more time because, you know, they've got that explosive power at the back end. So for us, it's just about setting that platform up for them to come in at the end and do their thing.
"There's a lot of confidence in the batting group at the moment, but we will have to do it again tomorrow."