Selflessness or Stupidity? Wiaan Mulder declares while remaining unbeaten at 367 against Zimbabwe

Overview

• Wiaan Mulder declared the South African innings at 626/5 while he remained unbeaten at 367*(334)
• The South African skipper had a golden chance to surpass Brian Lara's 400
• Mulder's 367 is the fifth-highest score in a Test innings and the highest for a South African

Wiaan Mulder did something not many would have dared to: declared his team's innings while he remained unbeaten with a score of 367*(334). The fact that South Africa was 626/5 at the end of the first session of the second day, had a lot of time left in the Test, and Mulder could have become the second batter since Brian Lara to score a 400 in a Test innings leaves a question mark over the declaration.

By the end of the 24th over of Zimbabwe's innings, South Africa had already claimed 6 wickets, which makes it further baffling to understand why Mulder went for the declaration. Given the way he was batting, scoring 33 more runs would not have taken a lot of time.

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In his stay in the middle, the South African skipper scored an unbeaten 267*(334), which included a whopping 49 fours and 4 sixes at a strike rate of 109.9. The series between South Africa and Zimbabwe is not a part of the World Test Championship either.

Records broken by Wiaan Mulder in his 367*(334) against Zimbabwe

While Mulder did not push himself to break Lara's record of most runs in a Test innings, he, however, broke many other records. The 297 balls taken by him to score his triple hundred is the second fastest in the format's history behind Virender Sehwag. Mulder's 367 is the highest individual score by a South African batter.

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He surpassed Hashim Amla in the process and became only the second South African to reach the milestone. His 367 is the fifth-highest score in a Test innings, which is behind Brian Lara's 400 and 375, Matthew Hayden's 380, and Mahela Jayawardene's 374. While being selfless is good, playing for records can be good in some rare instances.