Wiaan Mulder, the star of today’s contest between South Africa and Zimbabwe, who smashed 367*, made a surprising move by declaring the innings at 626/5. This was surprising because he was playing well and sticking to the crease. He already achieved a milestone by smashing a triple century on Test debut as captain and was nearing one of the most prestigious records of modern cricket. He was about to breach Brian Lara’s 21-year-old record of smashing the highest runs in a match by a player. Lara, who has earlier achieved this feat by smashing 401* against England, still stands tall.
“I thought we had enough and we need to bowl. Secondly, Brian Lara is a legend let’s be real. He got 401, or whatever it was, against England. For someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special. I think if I get the chance again, I would probably do the same thing. Listen, let the legends keep the really big scores. You never know what’s my fate, or what is destined for me, but I think Brian Lara keeping that record is exactly the way it should be.” Mulder said after the match.
Wiaan Mulder is in good nick at the moment and has broken records for pleasure with his record-breaking innings. He has made the highest score by an individual for South Africa in their Test history, surpassing Hashim Amla, who had scored 311 runs against England back in the year 2012.
Simultaneously, his triple century is the second-quickest in history, off 297 balls, beating Harry Brook, who achieved it against Pakistan off 310 deliveries in Multan last year. Mulder is also the youngest captain to have achieved a triple century in the history of Test cricket.