Wiaan Mulder, leading South Africa for the first time in only his 21st Test match, produced a stunning batting display by scoring an unbeaten 367 off just 334 balls against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. His marathon knock is now the fifth-highest individual score in Test cricket history. Remarkably, Mulder chose to declare the innings at lunch on day two with South Africa at 626 for five, despite being only 33 runs short of Brian Lara’s world-record 400 not out set in St John’s back in 2004.
With this extraordinary innings, Mulder became just the 29th player in Test history and only the second South African, after Hashim Amla’s 311 not out in 2012, to reach a triple-century. He had ended day one unbeaten on 264 and brought up his triple-century off 297 balls early on day two, making it the second-fastest triple-century after Virender Sehwag’s 278-ball effort against South Africa in 2008.
Batting with Kyle Verreynne at the other end, Mulder added 67 more runs in just 37 deliveries. In the process, he surpassed the legendary scores of Len Hutton’s 364 and Sir Garfield Sobers’ 365 not out, moving into the top five highest individual scores. Only Mahela Jayawardene (374), Brian Lara (375), Matthew Hayden (380) and Lara’s record 400 not out stand above him.
Mulder’s runs came at a remarkable strike rate of 109.88, the highest among all Test triple-centurions. His innings included 49 boundaries and four sixes. He also became the first stand-in captain to score a triple-century in Test cricket, stepping in for the injured Keshav Maharaj.
