Most batters only dream of a world record. Wiaan Mulder had one in sight in Bulawayo, 33 runs short of Brian Lara’s 400 not out, and declared anyway. That decision, on 367 not out, tells you a good deal about the man. This Wiaan Mulder career profile follows the right-hander who can bat deep into a second day, the seamer who swings the new ball, and the all-rounder whose two skills shape how Shukri Conrad builds his Test XI.
Wiaan Mulder career profile: the quick facts
- Full name: Wiaan Mulder
- Born: 19 February 1998 (Cricket South Africa)
- Role: all-rounder; bats right-handed, bowls right-arm medium pace (CSA and the ICC)
- Domestic team: the Lions
- SA20 franchise: MI Cape Town, signed at the season-five player auction in October 2026
- ODI debut: v Bangladesh, Buffalo Park, East London, 22 October 2017
- Test debut: v Sri Lanka, Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), 21 February 2019
- Highest Test score: 367 not out v Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, July 2025, the highest Test innings by a South African
- Test record, as at 13 November 2026: the player pages of CSA and the ICC carry no career figures, so this page records his landmark innings and spells, not match, run or wicket totals
Early life and background
Mulder came up through Gauteng cricket and was marked out early. In 2016, aged 18, he captained the South Africa Under-19 side and collected three prizes at CSA’s annual awards, including Under-19 Cricketer of the Year, as Jacaranda FM and The Citizen reported at the time. A year later, still the Under-19 captain, he won that award again, IOL reported.
Cricket South Africa’s own profile notes that comparisons with Jacques Kallis followed him from a young age, a heavy label for a teenager, and that consistency at the highest level has been a challenge.
Domestic and franchise career
He was playing senior cricket for the Lions at 18, while still at school, according to The Citizen, and made his franchise debut for the Highveld Lions in the 2016/17 season, IOL reported. By February 2019, ESPNcricinfo reported, his first-class average stood at 43.08 from 31 innings, with three hundreds.
The Lions remain his domestic team: CSA listed him with them when it named the Bangladesh Test squad on 2 November 2026. In 2024 he credited county cricket in England for his growth, along with Mark Boucher and the Lions coaching staff under Russell Domingo, Daily Maverick reported. Essex signed him as an overseas player for April to June 2026, a multi-format deal for six red-ball and six white-ball matches, the club announced.
In the SA20, MI Cape Town bought him at the season-five player auction in October 2026, EWN and Outlook India reported.
International career
Funnily enough, it all started against Bangladesh. Mulder won his first ODI cap at 19 in the third ODI at Buffalo Park in East London on 22 October 2017, on the same day as Aiden Markram. South Africa won by 200 runs.
His Test chance came in February 2019. A hamstring injury to Vernon Philander opened a place for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha, and Mulder, the only uncapped player in the squad, made his debut on 21 February. The early years were hard. Daily Maverick worked out in 2024 that he averaged 15 with the bat across his first 14 Tests without a half-century, and Mulder spoke openly about the mental and technical changes he needed. His first T20I start came against Pakistan at Centurion in April 2021, The Citizen reported.
The turn came in 2024. In the Caribbean he was player of the match in a 40-run Test win over West Indies, with six wickets, Daily Maverick reported. In Bangladesh that October he took three new-ball wickets in Dhaka and made his first Test fifty. Then, in the second Test in Chattogram, he made 105 not out from No. 7 in a first innings closed at 575 for 6. Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs also reached three figures for the first time in that innings, and our profile of De Zorzi covers the same day from the left-hander’s end.
In June 2025, when South Africa met Australia at Lord’s for the World Test Championship title, he batted at No. 3, chosen partly so the side had a fifth bowler who could swing the ball, SuperSport reported. He made 6 and 27, and his stand of 61 with Markram on the third day helped set up the five-wicket win that made South Africa world Test champions, the ICC reported.
Weeks later he was in Zimbabwe. In the first Test in Bulawayo, under the stand-in captaincy of Keshav Maharaj, he took 4 for 50 and then made 147 in the second innings, and South Africa won by 328 runs. In the second Test he led South Africa for the first time and batted at No. 3. He made 367 not out, with 49 fours and four sixes, the highest Test score by a South African, passing Hashim Amla’s 311 not out, and the fifth-highest in Test history, according to Reuters and PA via cricket.com.au. His 300 came from 297 balls, the second-fastest Test triple century after Virender Sehwag’s.
Then, at lunch on day two, he declared on 626 for 5 with Brian Lara’s 400 not out 33 runs away. Lara keeping the record was “exactly the way it should be”, Mulder told Shaun Pollock afterwards, the ICC reported. He added that Shukri Conrad had told him to leave the really big scores to the legends. South Africa won by an innings and 236 runs and took the series 2-0.
The Australia series in October 2026 showed both halves of his game. At Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium he removed Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc on the way to 4 for 68 from 27 overs, though Australia won by 214 runs. At Dafabet St George’s Park, the ground of his Test debut, he took 2 for 14 as Australia were bowled out for 99, then dismissed Head for 121, the nightwatchman Scott Boland and Cummins after the follow-on as South Africa won by an innings.
At Newlands, in the decider, he walked in at 181 for 5 in the second innings. He and Ryan Rickelton added 154, and Mulder was last out for 115 from 221 balls after a final-wicket stand of 36 with Kagiso Rabada. Our day-four report from Newlands has that innings in full. South Africa won by 176 runs to take the series 2-1, and the ICC’s rankings moved them to No. 1 in Test cricket.
Playing style
CSA’s profile describes a technically sound right-handed batter who can play long innings, usually in the lower middle order, and a medium-pace bowler who swings the ball. The record shows how far he can move: No. 7 for his first hundred, No. 3 at Lord’s and in Bulawayo, and back down the order for his Newlands century.
The bowling has grown with him. In 2024 Conrad said Mulder had become quicker, could take the new ball and bowled with aggression, and that he also held his catches at slip, Daily Maverick reported. Mulder told the ICC in 2025 that he enjoys the responsibility of batting high up, and that a side with him as fourth seamer is well balanced.
That balance is still the point. Conrad said he saw little value in a fifth seamer, because what Mulder offers with bat and ball lets South Africa field a frontline spinner, TimesLIVE reported on 12 November 2026.
Honours and records
- World Test Championship winner, Lord’s, June 2025, batting at No. 3 in the final
- 367 not out v Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, July 2025: South Africa’s highest individual Test score, and the fifth-highest in Test history
- 4 for 50 and 147 in the same Test v Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, 2025
- Maiden Test century, 105 not out v Bangladesh, Chattogram, October 2024
- 115 v Australia at Newlands, October 2026, in the series South Africa won 2-1
- CSA Under-19 Cricketer of the Year, 2016 and 2017
Where he is now (as at 13 November 2026)
Cricket South Africa picked Mulder on 2 November in a group of 15 for the two Tests against Bangladesh, and on Thursday he was among the players put through a demanding session at the Wanderers, TimesLIVE reported. For how the selectors put that group together, read our Beyond the Score on the squad.
The first Test, at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, starts on Sunday 15 November, with the first ball due at 10:00 SAST, and Centurion hosts the second Test from Monday 23 November at the same time. Cricket South Africa had not announced a playing XI when this page was last updated.
Frequently asked questions
How old is Wiaan Mulder?
Wiaan Mulder was born on 19 February 1998, according to Cricket South Africa. He was 28 as at 13 November 2026.
What is Wiaan Mulder’s highest Test score?
It is 367 not out, against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in July 2025, in his first match as South Africa’s captain. It is the highest Test innings by a South African.
Why did Wiaan Mulder declare on 367?
He declared at lunch on the second day with South Africa on 626 for 5, 33 runs short of Brian Lara’s 400 not out. He told Shaun Pollock that Lara’s record deserved to stand, and that Conrad had advised him to leave the biggest scores to the legends, the ICC reported.
Is Wiaan Mulder a batter or a bowler?
Both. He is an all-rounder who bats right-handed anywhere from No. 3 to No. 7 and bowls right-arm medium pace, including with the new ball. He has Test centuries against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Australia.
Will Wiaan Mulder play in the Wanderers Test against Bangladesh?
He is one of the 15 players CSA picked for the series, and Shukri Conrad has spoken about the balance his all-round game gives the side. The XI is the selectors’ call, and CSA had not named it when this page was last updated.