The all-rounder enjoyed a hugely successful school career and made his senior provincial debut at 18.
Wiaan Mulder is the talk of the cricketing world following his brilliant score of 367 not out for South Africa’s Proteas, scored in the second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Monday.
The 27-year-old, captaining his team for the first time in the absence of the injured Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj, raised eyebrows when he declared his team’s innings closed on 626/5, with his score 34 runs short of breaking Brian Lara’s individual Test record of 400 not out, scored for the West Indies against England in 2003/4.
Here are five things to know about South Africa’s latest cricketing star.
Background
Pieter Willem Adriaan Mulder was born on 19 February 1998 and after showing promise as a cricketer at a young age opted to attend St Stithian’s College in Joburg. It is the same school attended by Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Kwena Maphaka and Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
He played age group cricket for Gauteng since the age of 13 and made his senior provincial debut for the Lions at 18, while still at school. He captained the SA Schools and SA U19 teams.
International cricket
In October 2017, Mulder took his first steps in international cricket after being selected for South Africa’s ODI squad for their series against Bangladesh and he made his debut on 22 October aged 18.
In February 2018, he was named in South Africa’s Test squad for their series against Australia, but did not play and in August 2018 was named in the T20 squad for the first time.
He made his Test debut against Sri Lanka on 21 February 2019.
Mulder scored his first Test century against Bangladesh in October 2024, scoring 105 not out.
All-rounder role
Mulder was, and still is, considered an all-rounder, who is equally adept at batting and bowling. He did not score his first half-century in Test cricket until his 25th innings in his 15th match — 54 against Bangladesh in Mirpur last October.
Before that he had scored a total of 401 runs — one more than Lara’s single-innings record — at an average of 17.43.
His bowling figures at that point were better than his returns with the bat, although they were not outstanding — 25 wickets at an average of 25.00.
He was not a guaranteed first-choice player for a South African team in search of a quality all-rounder until head coach Shukri Conrad, appointed in January 2023, gave him his unequivocal backing.
The tide turned for Mulder after the half-century in Mirpur. He made 105 not out in his next innings in the second Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
Having mainly batted low in the order — his first century was made at number seven — Conrad chose him to fill the crucial number three batting position in the Test side.
He was out for five in his first innings at number three, against Pakistan in Cape Town in January, and struggled to six off 44 balls in the first innings of the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s in England last month.
But Mulder won praise for an enterprising 27 in the second innings as he and Aiden Markram laid a foundation for South Africa’s successful chase of a challenging target of 282.
Run out for 17 in the first innings of the first Test against Zimbabwe last week, he made a stylish 147 in the second innings, which proved a mere prelude to his effort in the second Test.
Among the greats
Mulder’s score of 367 not out has rocketed him into the top five individual Test scores of all-time — behind Lara’s 400 not out, Matthew Hayden’s 380, Lara’s 375 and Mahela Jayawardene’s 374.
He has gone past greats of the game including Len Hutton (364) and Garry Sobers (365 not out).
He is now South Africa’s top Test scorer, going past Hashim Amla, who held the previous record of 311.
Among the other records set by Mulder are:
— His 264 runs on the first day is the second most runs on the first day of a Test behind Don Bradman’s 309 for Australia v England at Leeds in 1930.
— The 131 runs he scored in the third session of the first day is the most by a South African in a session of a Test beating AB de Villiers’ 119 v India at Centurion in 2010.
— He followed this with 103 runs in the first session of the second day to join Bradman in that innings at Leeds in 1930 and Wally Hammond (England v New Zealand at Auckland in 1933) as the only batters to make 100 runs in consecutive sessions in a Test.