Mulder Smashes 264 on Captaincy Debut Breaks Multiple Records
South Africa’s captain, Wiaan Mulder, made an amazing start as a leader in Test cricket by scoring 264 runs without getting out in his first match as captain.
He broke the record set by New Zealand’s Graham Dowling, who scored 239 runs against India in 1968. Mulder also beat the record of Gary Kirsten’s 220, the highest score by a South African against Zimbabwe.
Mulder reached his double-century (200 runs) in just 214 balls, making it the second-fastest 200 by a South African in Test history. Only Herschelle Gibbs did it faster in 2003.
His powerful innings included 34 fours and 3 sixes, which is also a record. He hit more boundaries than any South African has ever done in one Test innings.
Mulder’s 264 not out is also the most runs scored by a South African in one day of Test cricket, beating the 228 runs made by Gibbs in 2003.
Mulder Makes History with Record-Breaking 264 Not Out
In all of Test cricket, Mulder’s score is the sixth-highest in one day, with the top being Don Bradman’s 309 in 1930. On the first day of a Test, only Bradman has scored more.
After tea, Mulder scored 131 runs in one session, the most ever by a South African and the seventh-highest by any player in one session.
His strike rate (how fast he scored) was over 100, which is very rare for such a high score in Test cricket.
South Africa scored a total of 465 runs for 4 wickets, their highest one-day total in Test history, breaking the old record of 445 against Pakistan in 2003.
A major part of this came from a 217-run partnership between Mulder and Lhuan-dre Pretorius. They scored these runs in just 185 balls. This is the second-highest fourth-wicket partnership for South Africa away from home, and the only one in history (since 1998) where over 200 runs were scored at more than 7 runs per over.
Mulder’s amazing performance has given South Africa a strong lead, putting Zimbabwe under heavy pressure as the match goes on.
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