Jordan Hermann made 150 on ODI debut, and the record he equalled was set by another South African
Nobody has ever scored more in a first one-day international. Hermann needed 61 balls for his first fifty and 32 each for the next two, and Namibia were beaten by 99 runs on DLS.
Sep 10, 2026
Jordan Hermann had faced 125 balls in international cricket when he pushed a single into the covers at Windhoek on Wednesday and reached 150. He was out on the 126th. Nobody in the history of one-day internationals has made more on debut, and only one man has made as many.
A record held by two South Africans
The 150 leaves Hermann level with Matthew Breetzke, who made exactly the same score off 148 balls against New Zealand at Lahore in February 2025. Breetzke’s innings had ended a 47-year wait: before him the highest score on ODI debut was Desmond Haynes’ 148 not out for West Indies against Australia at St John’s in 1978.
Nineteen months later a second South African has drawn level with the first. Behind those two the list drops away quickly, to Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 127 for Afghanistan against Ireland at Abu Dhabi in January 2021 and Mark Chapman’s unbeaten 124 for Hong Kong against the United Arab Emirates at Dubai in November 2015.
Hermann is 24, a left-hander who came through the Titans before moving to the Warriors in 2022. He was picked as an opener for a tour that most of South Africa’s first-choice batters are not on. He responded by making the highest score anyone has ever made in a first one-day international, and he was still batting in the 42nd over.
Slow, then not slow at all
The innings was built in three parts, and the pacing tells the story better than the total does. Hermann needed 61 balls for his first fifty. He needed 32 for the second, reaching his hundred off 93. He needed 32 again for the third.
Seventeen fours and three sixes, and the last of the runs came at a rate that Namibia’s bowlers had no answer to. Ruben Trumpelmann eventually had him caught at deep midwicket, one delivery after the 150 came up, and finished with 4 for 68 in an innings where nothing else went right for the hosts.
“You don’t just get a hundred, you try to push it further and further,” Hermann said afterwards. He was named player of the match.
348 for 6 after being put in
Namibia won the toss and bowled. Connor Esterhuizen went early for 10, and from there Hermann and Tony de Zorzi put on 190 for the second wicket. De Zorzi made 72 from 84 balls, his third fifty in one-day internationals, and spent most of it watching from the other end. Corbin Bosch finished unbeaten on 39 as South Africa closed on 348 for 6.
That was already a long way beyond Namibia. Rain then shortened their reply to 31 overs and set a revised target of 262, which sounds gentler until you work out the rate it demanded.
Subrayen’s career-best
Prenelan Subrayen took 4 for 29, the best figures of his one-day international career, and Kwena Maphaka took 2 for 32. Malan Kruger top-scored for Namibia with 34. They finished on 162 for 8, beaten by 99 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0. Namibia will want the second one to be a contest rather than a stage.
For Hermann the awkward part starts now. A debut like this fixes a number beside your name that every innings afterwards gets measured against. He has one innings in international cricket, and it is the biggest anyone has ever played first.