South Africa captain leaves cricket fans torn after refusing chance to surpass Brian Lara

South Africa cricket captain Wiaan Mulder has left fans divided after spurning the chance to beat legendaryBrian Lara's record of 400 not out, as he insisted the West Indies icon keeping the landmark was "exactly the way it should be".

Mulder put in a sensational batting display against Zimbabwe but decided to declare with his score on 367, 33 runs short of Lara's feat as South Africa finished on 626-5.

It was still the fifth-highest score in Test history and Mulder insisted his decision was partly because he thought the team had enough in their innings - and partly because he wanted Lara's "special" record to stand.

Speaking to South African broadcaster SuperSport, he said: "First things first, I thought we'd got enough and we need to bowl. And secondly Brian Lara is a legend, let's be real. He got 400 against England and for someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special.

"If I get the chance again I'd probably do the same thing. I was speaking to our coach Shukri Conrad and he kind of said to me, 'Listen, let the legends keep the really big scores'.

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"And you never know what my fate or whatever you want to call it, or what's destined for me, but I think Brian Lara keeping that record is exactly the way it should be."

Mulder's bore immediate fruit as Codi Yusuf caught Takudzwanashe Kaitano off the first ball of Zimbabwe's innings. They were bowled out for just 170.

Mulder also took two for 20 in that time, but fans were still left scratching their heads over his huge call to not chase Lara's record.

One fan said the move was actually "disrespectful" to both Zimbabwe and Lara, as they wrote: "Lara won't ever want to not break his record out of 'respect' because that's 'pity' in disguise."

Another added: "I think this was an error of judgement. He should have went for the record ad then declared. Now it seems like he belittled Zimbabwe, which is not right."

But other fans suggested that Mulder was right not to break the record against a lesser opponent in a game that was not defining.

One user added: "There is difference between scoring against England and Zimbabwe. His decision was right, scoring against a weak team to set a new record ain’t cool."

Another wrote: "To each his own. I agree with this 100%! Lara is an all time icon. He scored 400 in 1994 against England. Mulder scoring and breaking the record against Zimbabwe doesn't feel right and he personally also felt the same. Credit to him."