Mulder’s unbeaten 367 from 334 deliveries in the second test against Zimbabwe surpassed Hashim Amla’s 311* that came 13 years ago against England, and also earned a place among the top five highest individual scorers in test history.

He made the shocking admission after the second day’s play that he wanted to quit after being run out in the first match last week for just 17 runs.

"In my career, I've got a lot more low scores than high scores so there's been so many failures along the way that I think mold me to the cricketer I am today. I think if you look at the previous test, I got ran out for 17, I was speaking 'I think I'll just hang up my boots man' like honestly it was really, really difficult to keep failing no matter how hard you work, you just feel like you don't get the positives,” Mulder said.

“So, to get two scores in a row is truly special but I think that sums up cricket. You go through phases where you think you are doing all the right things, you are playing extremely well, you are bowling or batting but you just don't get the runs or the rewards for it.

“So, it's really nice and I think it sends a positive message to the other guys that are trying to find form that are a little bit down on themselves, that if you keep doing the right things at some stage you could reap the rewards."

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Mulder was a bit sad to break the record set by the legendary Proteas batter but welcomed the honour of being etched into the history books.

Just last month Amla was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, and is South Africa’s second highest test run scorer behind Jacques Kallis with 9 282 to his name.

"I've worked a little bit with Hash over the last couple of years and he's obviously in the Hall of Fame so truly special to go past his record but I always feel like a lot of the legends deserve certain accolades,” he added.

“So, I'm in no means close to a legend so someone like Hash deserves to hold that record but I guess it was my destiny, so take it as it comes."

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