Matthew Breetzke grateful for hard earned century as Proteas go 1-0 up

Breetzke was in scintillating form at Kingsmead stadium as he hit 14 fours and two sixes on his way to 112, helping South Africa finish on 297 having been asked to bat first.

He revealed that the milestone, his second in 50 over internationals, meant more to him due to a difficult start and the wickets they kept losing.

"It was a proud and emotional moment for me and my family. It was really difficult in the beginning and I had to fight myself through it mentally, and there were a few stages when I wanted to take on more risks, but we kept losing wickets. To reach the century milestone was a major relief."

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Breetzke shared a key 107-run partnership with Marco Jansen, who blasted his way to 75 off just 59 deliveries, and dug their team out of a spot of bother with the Aussies smelling blood.

Jansen went on to also contribute immensely in the field with a couple of catches, not least of which a stunner to remove Matt Renshaw off Gerald Coetzee’s bowling.

"It was a special knock from Marco and he helped my innings a lot because I could just feed him the strike. We fed off one another's energy throughout, and then his catch was something special too."

He also says the win is a good morale boost and a show of character from the team after a tough week with injuries to key players.

Having drawn first blood in the series and going 1-0 up, Breetzke expects their visitors to come out guns blazing in the second match. This will be the Pink ODI taking place at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.