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At Newlands in Cape Town, Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder each scored centuries in South Africa's second innings against Australia on October 30, 2026, registering a world record in the process. The two childhood friends, both alumni of St Stithians College in Johannesburg, became the first No. 6 and No. 7 batters to each score a hundred in the same team's second innings of a Test match, ending a drought that stretched back to 1989.
South Africa's second innings closed at 387 in 134.4 overs, leaving Australia a target of 288 runs to win the series-deciding third Test on the final day. The series between the two sides was level at 1-1 heading into that final day.
Rickelton made 101 off 219 balls, hitting 12 boundaries before being run out in the 120th over with Josh Inglis involved in the dismissal. Mulder followed with 115 off 221 balls, striking 10 fours and four sixes. The pair batted together for nearly 54 overs, adding 154 runs for the sixth wicket and lifting South Africa from 181 for 5 to 335 for 6. Kagiso Rabada provided useful support at the other end as Mulder approached his hundred, before Pat Cummins dismissed Mulder to bring the innings to its close at 387.
What makes this the first such instance since 1989?
The feat of a No. 6 and No. 7 batter each scoring a century in a team's second innings of a Test match has been recorded only four times in the history of the format. The most recent instance before Newlands 2026 came in 1989, when Australia's Dean Jones and Steve Waugh both reached three figures in a second innings against Sri Lanka in Hobart. That gap of 37 years underlines how rarely the conditions, batting order and match situation align to allow two lower-middle-order batters to each compile a hundred in the same second innings.
Rickelton and Mulder are now only the fourth pair overall to accomplish this, and the first from South Africa. Their 154-run sixth-wicket stand was central to the record, giving both batters the time and platform needed to convert starts into centuries.
Which earlier instances complete the historical record?
Going further back, the second recorded instance in this list involved two Australian greats at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1937, when Jack Fingleton and Don Bradman both scored hundreds against England in a second innings. That match at the MCG stands as one of the earliest confirmed examples of a No. 6 and No. 7 pair achieving the feat, making it a specific honourable mention alongside the 1989 Hobart instance whenever this Newlands record is discussed.
With Rickelton's 101 and Mulder's 115 now added to that short list, the Proteas have placed themselves in distinguished company spanning nearly nine decades of Test cricket.
