BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (AP) — Wiaan Mulder sacrificed a shot at one of cricket's most hallowed records to start mopping up Zimbabwe in the second test at Queens Sports Club on Monday.
The first-time captain of South Africa was on 367, just 33 runs away from tying the highest individual test score, Brian Lara's 400 not out 21 years ago, when he stopped his epic innings and declared at lunch with South Africa on 626-5.
He then chipped in with two wickets in consecutive overs and a catch to bowl out Zimbabwe for 170, enforced the follow-on, and had Zimbabwe 51-1 in the second innings at stumps.
Already 1-0 up in the short series, South Africa was 405 runs ahead and gearing toward wrapping up another three-day win on Tuesday.
“First, I thought we have enough and we need to bowl,” Mulder told broacaster SuperSport. "Secondly, Brian Lara is a legend, he got 400 against England and for someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special. If I get the chance again I'd probably do the same thing.
“I was speaking to Shuks (Proteas coach Shukri Conrad) and he kind of said to me as well, ‘Let the legends keep the really big scores,' and you never know what my fate is or what is destined for me. But Brian Lara keeping that record is exactly the way it should be.”
Mulder achieved the fifth highest test score, and the highest by a South African.
To stay in the moment for the nearly seven hours he spent in the middle, Mulder sang to himself, “Zombie” by The Cranberries, over and over.
“That was stuck in my head most of the game, and whenever I felt a little bit out of it I just kept singing, sometimes louder, to make sure I'm present. That's my method.”
He started day two on 264 and the second new ball only eight overs old. But he picked up where he left off on Sunday, plundering the Zimbabwe bowlers.
When he became the second South African to the 300 landmark, guiding Tanaka Chivanga's yorker to fine leg for a single, he took off his helmet, smiled and raised his bat to bathe in the applause.
“I never even dreamt of getting a double hundred never mind a triple hundred but it's super special,” Mulder said. “The most important thing is it put the team in a good position to hopefully win this test.”
His 297 balls to the milestone were the second fastest to 300 after India's Virender Sehwag took 278 balls versus South Africa in 2008.
Amla passed
Mulder became the highest-scoring South African in tests when he eclipsed Hashim Amla's 311 not out against England in 2012.
He raced from 300 to 350 in 27 balls, and gave his teammates a salute.
He went from 300 to 367 in 37 balls then hardly faced another ball. Kyle Verreynne had the strike for most of the last four overs to lunch and was 42 not out.
Mulder's 334-ball knock included 49 boundaries and four sixes.
The only higher scores in test history were Lara's unbeaten 400 and 375, Matthew Hayden's 380 and Mahela Jayawardene's 374.
In the morning session, Mulder scored 103 of South Africa's 161 runs, which came at a cracking average of 6.1 per over. The only wicket to fall was Dewald Brevis, 15 overnight, for 30, giving Zimbabwe debutant Kundai Matigimu a second wicket.
Zimbabwe's Williams stranded
After South Africa rested on its sixth highest total in history, and highest in nine years, Zimbabwe's first bat lasted only 43 overs.
Off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen, making his test debut at age 31, took 4-42 to leave Zimbabwe's Sean Williams stranded on 83.
Williams had been ill and didn't field in the morning. He didn't bat until Zimbabwe was 56-5 and he zoomed to 50 in 32 balls, the fastest test 50 in the team's history.
No. 11 batter Chivanga seemed to give Williams every chance to achieve back-to-back centuries in the series, by lasting for more than six overs.
Williams, given life by a no-ball on 79, hit 83 off 55 balls.
Corbin Bosch got the only second-innings wicket, and Zimbabwe reached stumps with Takudzwanashe Kaitano on 34 and Nick Welch on 6.
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The Associated Press
