[Watch] Absolute chaos in the middle for South Africa as Mitchell Starc finds Keshav Maharaj short with fantastic pick-up-and-throw

South Africa's horrible batting performance against Australia hit a new low as an embarrassing mix-up led to Keshav Maharaj being run-out on Day 4 of the second Test at the MCG.

Maharaj and Temba Bavuma added 30 runs for the seventh wicket to show a bit of resistance after the Proteas fell to 144/6. However, some poor running between the wickets in the 61st over gave Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc a sniff at a possible run-out at the striker's end.

Bavuma initially wanted a second run, but by the time he pulled out, Maharaj was already more than halfway down the track. Starc collected the ball from the fielder at deep cover and threw it at the striker's end, finding Maharaj just short. Here's a video of the dismissal:

---

South Africa's batting imploded once again

The Proteas had a mountain to climb in the Boxing Day Test after the hosts took a mammoth lead of 386 runs.

Apart from Temba Bavuma, who scored a fighting 65, no other batter really stood up to the challenge or at least showed some spine. Theunis de Bruyn and Kyle Verreyne got off to decent starts but failed to convert them into big scores, getting out for 28 and 33 respectively.

It was once again a collective bowling effort from Australian pacers as Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc took a wicket apiece, while Scott Boland scalped two. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Steve Smith ended the game with the wicket of Lungi Ngidi.

Australia have finally ended their 17-year wait to beat South Africa at home and have bolstered their chances of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. With this result, India continue to be in the top 2 of the WTC points table.

---

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc.

South Africa XI: Dean Elgar (c), Sarel Erwee, Theunis De Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.