Highveld Lions player Wiaan Mulder’s sensational start to his franchise career reached new heights on Friday with a maiden century.

It’s becoming easier to talk about 18-year-old Mulder as the next Jacques Kallis with each game he plays, and it won’t be long until we can start talking about his Proteas aspirations. And he’s just two-and-a-half caps into his professional career.

The St Stithians College student topped the run-scoring and wicket-taking charts at the Coca Cola Schools T20 Challenge last year and captained South Africa U19’s unsuccessful World Cup campaign this year. The talent was there, but whether or not he could step up to the professional ranks was unanswered until now.

Match figures of 7-54 on debut, followed by an incredible 7-25 against the Dolphins last week proved what he’s capable of with the ball, but we’d yet to be treated to his all-round capabilities.

On day two against the Knights we saw the lot, as he blasted a century off just 122 balls, bringing up his three figures with a six.

All of this from a boy trying to pass his matric exams. The only worrying part is that he’s going to have to play cricket for the next 20 or so years with people expecting him to do something special every time he plays.

The Lions went on to post a total of 483, to which the Knights had responded with vigour. New captain Theunis de Bruyn led the way with 91 off 121 balls as the hosts ended the day on 241-2. David Miller is at the crease with 82 off 104 balls.

Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images