Mulder's monumental 367 puts SA in control

He declares innings 33 short of Lara's world record score of 400

BULAWAYO:

South Africa's stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder scored the fifth highest test score of 367 not out against Zimbabwe on Monday but then declared his side's innings despite being only 34 runs away from the record for the most runs in a Test innings.

Mulder, leading the side for the first time as a depleted team take on their neighbours in a two-Test series at Bulawayo's Queens Sports Club, hit 53 boundaries (49 fours and four sixes) in his knock to see South Africa to 626-5 at lunch on the second day of the second test.

With plenty of time still left in the Test, it was expected he would bat into the second session to chase down Brian Lara's 21-year-old record of 400 not out for the West Indies against England in Antigua but Mulder turned down the chance and declared at lunch, to put Zimbabwe into bat.

The 27-year-old all-rounder had come in at No. 3 with South Africa on 24-2 after being put into bat on the opening day on Sunday and was 264 not out at the close as he rallied his side to finish the day on 465-4. He had a fortunate break when on 247 he was bowled, only for a no ball to be called as Tanaka Chivanga had overstepped.

But the rest of Mulder's impressive innings was chanceless as he brought up his 300 in Monday's morning session, off 297 balls for the second fastest triple century in Test cricket. He then passed Hashim Amla's record test score for a South African of 311 not out against England at the Oval in 2012 and got to 350 in 324 balls before going to lunch 367 not out.

It put him fifth in the all-time list, ahead of the likes of fellow triple centurions Gary Sobers and Donald Bradman, and behind Lara (400 not out and 375), Australian Matthew Hayden (380) and Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, who hit 374 against South Africa in Colombo in 2006. Reuters

Mulder's slow rise to stardom

Mulder, 27, made his Test debut in February 2019 but did not score his first half-century until his 25th innings in his 15th match -- 54 against Bangladesh in Mirpur last October.

Before that he had scored a total of 401 runs -- one more than Lara's single-innings record -- at an average of 17.43.

Picked as an all-rounder, his bowling figures at that point were better than his returns with the bat, although they were not outstanding -- 25 wickets at an average of 25.00.

The tide turned for Mulder after the half-century in Mirpur. He made 105 not out in his next innings in the second Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram. Having mainly batted low in the order -- his first century was made at number seven -- Conrad chose him to fill the crucial number three batting position in the Test side.

An outstanding schoolboy cricketer, Mulder captained South African Schools and South Africa Under-19s. He made his first-class debut for the Gauteng Lions at 18, taking seven wickets in an innings in his second match and making his maiden century a week later.