SOUTH AFRICAN skipper Wiaan Mulder produced one of sport’s most selfless gestures and denied himself the world record Test score.

Mulder was 367 not out at lunch in the Second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo and looked certain to overtake Brian Lara’s legendary figure of 400 not out.

But he decided to call a halt to his team’s innings and declare with the Proteas having piled up a mammoth 626-5.

It is his first Test as captain of the current world Test champions.

Mulder now sits fifth on the all-time list of Test scores.

History will look favourably on his refusal to snatch the record from an all-time great while playing against a weak Zimbabwe team.

Mulder’s triple century came off 297 balls, making it the second-fastest in Test history and behind only Indian Virender Sehwag’s 278-ball effort against South Africa in Chennai in 2008.

Mulder’s act echoes a declaration by former Aussie skipper Mark Taylor when he had scored 334 not out against Pakistan in 1998.

Taylor did not want to go past Sir Donald Bradman’s highest score for Australia so he was happy to equal it.

Bradman is an Aussie icon and regarded as the greatest batsman of all time although Matthew Hayden subsequently broke his record.

Lara has twice held the record with monumental innings against England.

He first made 375 against England in 1994 only for Hayden to score 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003.

Lara promptly recaptured the record the following year with 400 not out against England in Antigua.

Left-hander Lara also holds the world record score in first-class cricket – 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994.