SA will win the second Test against Zimbabwe easily, but Wiaan Mulder’s selfless call to declare his side’s innings at lunch will be debated for as long as the game is played.
In that regard, this match the Proteas have dominated and which otherwise would have had little attention, will have its place in history.
Mulder scored 367 not out, the fifth-highest score in a Test innings. However, given that the outcome is inevitable and with so much time left in the match, the opportunity not to push on past Brian Lara’s world record of 400 is one that lit the fires on social media on Monday.
Mulder had certainly earned the right to surpass the great West Indies batter’s landmark, even if Zimbabwe have been poor and the conditions in Bulawayo are as batter friendly as anywhere on earth.
He played with style and aggression, and other than two instances on the first day never looked uncomfortable.
It was a remarkable display of mental fortitude and fitness, with Mulder batting for 10 minutes short of seven hours. He was still running quick singles on Monday morning, and when he accelerated after passing Hashim Amla’s previous SA record of 311, his shot-making allied power with the elegance he’d shown throughout.
Mulder’s approach had created the time that allowed him the chance to chase an individual record. So why not do so?
In looking back at Mulder’s career, he’s always questioned whether he truly was worth all the hype that there’d been around him as a schoolboy, which was still there when he was elevated into the professional ranks while still completing his matric.
It’s perhaps worth recalling that before this Test, Shukri Conrad, in explaining the reasons he decided to make Mulder captain after Keshav Maharaj was forced out with an injury, also stated that he hoped Mulder got “the sense that we back him”.
Of the six batters to make 350, he also did so the quickest, needing just 324 balls, beating Matthew Hayden’s mark of 402 in the Australian’s innings of 380, also against Zimbabwe in Perth in 2003.
Temba Bavuma mentioned something similar after Mulder won his first player of the match award against the West Indies last year. Mulder’s self belief is something he has struggled with throughout his career, and perhaps the decision to declare with a record in sight is wrapped up in his own sense of where he stands as a cricketer.
For one he is still coming to terms with batting at No 3 — a spot he’s cemented after this series — and also as captain, he doesn’t want to lose his first assignment in that role.
Whatever the reasons, Mulder is firmly in the history books. After Amla, he sailed past legends who have been knighted for their achievements — Don Bradman’s 334, Len Hutton’s 364 and Gary Sobers’ 365 — now all lay in Mulder’s shadow.
Besides all that, his is the first triple hundred by a captain in their first Test in the role and when he reached 300, he did so off 297 balls, the second fastest in terms of balls faced behind Indian superstar Virender Sehwag, who needed 278 balls when he did so against SA in Chennai in 2008.
Of the six batters to make 350, he also did so the quickest, needing just 324 balls, beating Matthew Hayden’s mark of 402 in the Australian’s innings of 380, also against Zimbabwe in Perth in 2003.
Mulder struck 49 fours and four sixes, the second most boundaries in a Test innings behind England’s John Edrich, who hit 52 fours and five sixes while making 310 against New Zealand in 1965.
Those categories all indicate the nature of the innings and will make those who felt he should have chased Lara’s record even more incensed.
That mood would not have been helped after Zimbabwe capitulated for 170 when it was their turn to bat. That first innings lasted just 43 overs. In total Zimbabwe’s batters faced 74 balls less than Mulder managed throughout his innings.
Debutant Prenalen Subrayen took 4/42, while Mulder also helped himself to two wickets and held a catch at slip.
After being forced to follow-on the homeside reached 51/1 at stumps. Not especially memorable, but this Test has already earned a spot in the history books — for a decision not to score any more runs.
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