Meticulous Mulder mimics Joseph to keep Proteas in contention

While Shamar Joseph’s electrifying display in his first match on home soil rightly grabbed the headlines after the opening day of the second Test in Guyana, Wiaan Mulder’s comparatively innocuous bowling ensured South Africa remained firmly in the hunt. 

While Joseph was sublime in taking 5/33, with elaborate seam movement bowled at top pace, Mulder’s more subtle application elicited a similar outcome which led to the best figures of his career. 

The West Indies were reduced to 97/7 at the end of the first day in response to South Africa's first innings of 160, with the fast bowlers on both sides, despite the oppressive heat, relishing the seaming conditions. 

“I just tried to be similar to what Shamar did. He’s a lot quicker than me but I tried to present the seam and get a bit of movement off the pitch,” said Mulder, who finished with 4/18 from six overs.

“A lot went my way. I didn’t try to do anything magically, just bowl in the middle of the crease and hit the top of the stumps.”

Mulder has faced plenty of scrutiny over the course of his career, with most of the criticism based primarily on how he’d failed to live up to expectations after a stellar schoolboy career. Previous coaches and selectors hoped for a more immediate impact at international level, which has resulted in a Test career that has spanned five years but in which he has played only 14 Tests. 

Consistency is the main ingredient but for that to occur he must play more.

He needs to do more with the bat, averaging 17.45, with a highest score of 42, while his impact with the ball has been sporadic. 

Before Thursday, his best bowling performance had also been against the West indies when he took 3/1 in the second Test of the 2021 series in St Lucia. 

“I try to do my best whenever I can,” he said of his rollercoaster international career. 

With the bat, Mulder was one of three Proteas players who fell for two-ball ducks, his dismissal the result of a virtually unplayable delivery from the impressive Jayden Seales which Mulder nicked to West Indies wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva. 

In many respects the West Indies bowled better than South Africa. Seales, who took 3/45, and Joseph implemented excellent game plans to compliment some of the magic deliveries they produced. 

South Africa offered up too many freebies in between good deliveries which earned them wickets, with Mulder producing an excellent catch off his own bowling while Nandre Burger bowled a peach to dismiss West Indies opener Mikyle Louis. 

“We went through a phase where we maybe got a bit greedy, me in particular, but generally we did a good job, tried to hit the top of off-stump and that is where all the action happened,” said Mulder.