South Africa’s stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder on Monday (July 7) decided not to chase West Indies legend Brian Lara’s long-standing record Test score of 400 as he declared the innings with him unbeaten on 367 (334 balls, 49×4, 4×6).
Mulder, the 27-year-old right-hander on captaincy debut, could have become only the second batter in Test history to score a quadruple century.
But he declared the South African innings at 626/5 in 114 overs against Zimbabwe.
The surprising declaration came at lunch break during the second day of the second Test against the hosts in Bulawayo.
He scored his triple century in 297 balls, the second fastest after Virender Sehwag (300 off 278).
Playing in his 21st Test, Mulder struck at a strike rate of over 100 to script history to move into the top five highest individual scores in Test cricket.
Mulder also broke the record for the highest individual score in an away Test. The previous best was 337 by Hanif Mohammad of Pakistan against West Indies in Barbados in 1958.
