All Records Broken By Wiaan Mulder’s 264* On Day 1 Of The 2nd Test vs Zimbabwe

Kaushik Kashyap

Wiaan Mulder. [Source -LwosVarun/x.com]Wiaan Mulder. [Source -LwosVarun/x.com]

Wiaan Mulder is having a remarkable outing in the ongoing second Test between South Africa and Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. The South Africa’s stand-in skipper made history with an unbeaten 264 on Day 1, leading from the front in commanding style.

It was an innings filled with dominance and class, one that rewrote the history books, shattering several records. Here are some of the key milestones broken during the unforgettable performance from the South African star.

Highest Individual Score in First Test as Captain

Wiaan Mulder’s unbeaten 264 set a new benchmark, making him the player with the highest score on first Test as captain. He surpassed the long-standing record of 239 set by New Zealand’s Graham Dowling against India at Christchurch back in 1968.

Fastest 250 in Test for South Africa

Mulder now holds the record for the fastest 250 in Test cricket by a South African, reaching the feat in just 243 balls. If we see the all-time record in men's Test cricket, he is the fourth-fastest to 250+, behind Ben Stokes (196), Virender Sehwag (207), and another one for the former Indian opener at 225 balls.

Second Highest Individual Score on Day 1

Mulder’s unbeaten 264 is now the second-highest score ever on the opening day of a Test match, only behind Don Bradman’s iconic 309 at Leeds in 1930. It is also just the 7 instances of a player scoring 250 or more on a particular day of a Test match and just the second such instance on Day 1.

Third South African Test Captain to score Century on Captaincy Debut

Mulder also became only the third player to score a century on Test captaincy debut for South Africa after Jackie McGlew in 1955 and Herbie Taylor in 1913. Overall, he is the 34th player in Test history to register a hundred in his first match as captain.

Highest Individual Score in First Test as Captain for South Africa

As Mulder became only the third South African to score a century on Test captaincy debut, joining Jackie McGlew (1955) and Herbie Taylor (1913), he also happens to surpass both, now holding the record for the highest score by a South African Test captain on debut.

Third Instance of Double Century on Test Captaincy Debut

Mulder etched his name in history, becoming the first South African's Test skipper to score a doublet ton on captaincy debut. Overall, he is only the third Test captain after West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul and New Zealand’s Graham Dowling to score a double century in the debut innings as skipper. His remarkable knock joins a rare list of leaders who made an instant impact with the bat in their captaincy debut.

Highest Team Score on Day 1 for South Africa

Powered by Mulder’s record-breaking knock, South Africa piled up 465 runs by stumps on Day 1 of the second Test against Zimbabwe. This is South Africa’s highest ever score on the opening day of a Test. It also ranks seventh on the all-time list, surpassing their previous best of 445 against Pakistan in 2003.

Highest Run-rate in 200+ Partnership in Test

Mulder and Lhuan-dre Pretorius stitched together a blistering 217-run stand at a run-rate of 7.03 which is the highest ever for a 200-plus partnership in Test cricket (where data is available). They surpassed the previous best of 6.94 rate set by England's Zak Crawley and Joe Root during the 2023 Ashes series in Manchester.

Second South African Test Captain to score 250+ in an Innings

Mulder also became only the second South African captain to score over 250 runs in a Test innings. The only other to achieve this was the great Graeme Smith, who did it twice with scores of 277 and 259 against England.

Fourth South African Test Captain to Score Double Century

Mulder became the fourth South African captain to score a Test double century after Dudley Nourse, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla who was the last one to achieve the feat nine years ago against England in Cape Town.

Second Fastest Test Double Century for South Africa

Mulder completed his double century in just 214 balls, making it the second-fastest for South Africa in Test history. Only Herschelle Gibbs was quicker, bringing up his double century in just 211 balls against Pakistan in Cape Town back in 2003.