Rickelton finished with 101 off 219 balls and Mulder 115 off 221, but their contributions were built around a shared willingness to absorb pressure rather than chase quick runs.
The left hand batter said their approach was to focus on the small moments and trust that the runs would eventually come if they could stay at the crease.
“I think it was really just about trying to win the small moments,” Rickelton said.
“We were effectively 40 for 4 this morning, so we knew they were going to come hard at us and it was about trying to spend time [in the middle].
“It was never about scoring runs or getting too far ahead of ourselves, but rather having our plan and really sticking to it.”
The plan was first tested alongside Matthew Breetzke, with the pair resuming unbeaten and adding 41 before Breetzke fell for 43 off 121 balls, leaving the Proteas on 181/5.
That brought Mulder to the crease and changed the dynamic, but not the underlying approach.
Rickelton and Mulder reached their 50 partnership from 88 balls, 100 from 193 and eventually 150 from 313, with South Africa reaching tea on 294/5.
Rickelton said the two batsmen were also responsible for keeping each other disciplined when the temptation was to attack.
“I felt Wiaan sometimes was starting to breach out of his plan, so just to keep pulling each other in because we knew the longer that we batted, obviously the more frustrated they would get,” he said.
“We knew the way they were going to attack us and found a really good defence in there and were willing to absorb [pressure] for a long period of time.”
That patience eventually created opportunities to score, with Rickelton reaching his century from 218 balls and Mulder bringing up his own hundred from 204.
