Matthew Breetzke

Called a "real character with a similar mindset to Virat Kohli," by his Durban Super Giant's captain Keshav Maharaj, Matthew Breetzke is a proactive top-order batter and excellent fielder, who is known to handle pressure well.

His pedigree was clear from a young age, when he was included in Grey High's first team at the age of 14. Two years later, he was playing for the South African under-19 side, where he was a regular. He has scored over 1,000 runs in 25 youth ODIs, and was part of South Africa's squad for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, where he was their second-highest run-scorer. Later that year, he was named in the South African Emerging Squad for a tour to Sri Lanka and in the 2018-19 summer, he made his provincial debut for Eastern Province.

It took a couple of seasons for Breetzke to make his mark at the professional level, and when he did, it was in the longest format. He was the top run-scorer in the CSA four-day first-class competition in the 2022-23 season and scored three hundreds and four fifties in 14 innings to average 60.58 for the tournament. But Breetzke was also known for being a quick run-getter and was selected for South Africa's T20I squad in September 2023, where he debuted against Australia.

He went on to become the third-highest run-scorer in 2024 edition of the SA20 and top batter at the CSA T20 Challenge but those numbers were not enough to earn a spot in South Africa's 2024 T20 World Cup. Instead, he signed a deal with Northants and continued a strong run of T20 form. He was among the top-scorers in the 2024 Vitality Blast. He was also named in South Africa's Test squad to play West Indies in August 2024.

- Matthew Breetzke, a top-order batter and wicketkeeper, was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the 2025 IPL season for INR 75 lakh. That came after an SA20 season worth 416 runs in 13 innings at an average of 32.00 and strike rate of 135.50.

- Breetzke played just a solitary game for them in the season, scoring 14 on his tournament debut. He was retained ahead of the 2026 season on the back of good batting form around the world, which included becoming the first to cross 150 on ODI debut.