WORLD RECORD HASN'T REALLY SETTLED IN YET, SAYS DSG'S BREETZKE

Matthew Breetzke would have spent plenty of time watching Kane Williamson over the last few weeks.

The pair, of course, played together for Durban’s Super Giants in the just-concluded Betway SA20 season.

While Breetzke, along with the DSG, may have not enjoyed the season he would have liked, there would still have been plenty of learnings gathered from the New Zealand maestro.

And that’s the beauty of SA20 as it allows inexperienced South Africans players to rub shoulders with legends of the game such as Williamson on a daily basis.

It may be coincidental, but there’s also plenty to take from the fact Breetzke capped a memorable Proteas ODI debut against Williamson’s Black Caps with a world record 150 in Lahore on Monday.

“I obviously take pride in my white ball cricket, and I've done nicely in T20 cricket, but obviously in one-day cricket that's probably the best I've batted,” Breetzke said.

“Yeah, it hasn't really settled in yet. I think once I get on my phone and chat to my family. I think it will settle in quite nicely.”

Fellow DSG batters Wiaan Mulder and Jason Smith also impressed with 64 and 41 in South Africa’s 304/6.

But just to show everyone that he remains the numero uno, Williamson struck back with an undefeated 133 to guide the Kiwis comfortably home by six wickets.

“South Africa played really well off the back of Matthew Breetzke with an outstanding knock and so we knew going into the second half that the surface was good and we're going to have to put together partnerships which we were able to do,” Williamson said.

The feature of Breetzke’s innings was that he mimicked Williamson’s composure at the start when New Zealand’s seam bowlers were getting plenty of assistance both from the overhead conditions and the green-tinged surface.

Scoring runs was particularly difficult during this period with survival the primary priority. 

Breetzke showed that he was willing to do the hard yards by taking a few blows against the body and fingers - especially from a few rising deliveries from the impressive Will O’Rourke - before flourishing as the mist cleared and the conditions became easier.

“I think the wicket was definitely tacky and the over-air conditions with a bit of mist in the air, it was tough for the new ball. 

“So, yeah, my mindset was just to get through those first ten with that new ball and then hopefully kick on and luckily it paid off.”