WATCH: ‘It’s not that hard’ – Mitchell Starc’s stern words for Theunis de Bruyn as Aussie warns of non-striker run-out

Australia defeated South Africa by an innings and 182 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, and, thereby clinched the Test series. They are now 2-0 up in the three-match Test series.

South Africa’s poor performance with the bat continued as they lost half of their batting line-up for  128 and were facing an innings defeat at the MCG after Australia bowled the Proteas out for 189 in the first innings.

Multiple players have recently employed the dismissal technique, most widely and commonly described as the “Mankad,” and while the rule does not require a batter to get a warning before being dismissed, many bowlers still prefer to do so.

South Africa batter De Bruyn was warned by Mitchell Starc , who could also be heard yelling at the batter on the stump mike.

“Stay in the crease. It’s not that hard. It’s (the crease) there for a reason mate!” the left-arm pacer said.

Watch it here:

Starc said "Stay in the crease, it's not that hard".pic.twitter.com/UwYATAjCRZ

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 29, 2022

David Warner’s stunning innings takes Australia to victory

In a recent ODI at Lord’s, Deepti Sharma, an all-rounder from India, sparked outrage when she ran Charlotte Dean out at the non-striker’s for England’s final wicket, leading to India’s victory in the match as well as the series. Despite the dismissal being lawful, several former and current English cricketers were upset with Deepti.

Men in Blue veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has long been an advocate for the dismissal. He also outraged batters at the moment by using the “Mankad” to dismiss Jos Buttler in the 2019 Indian T20 League.

After recent legal changes made by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), this method of dismissal was renamed “run-out.” Later, the MCC also responded to the Deepti Sharma incident, asserting:

“MCC’s message to non-strikers continues to be to remain in their ground until they have seen the ball leave the bowler’s hand. Then dismissals, such as the one seen yesterday, cannot happen.”

David Warner was adjourned the Man of the Match for his marvelous innings of 200 in his 100th Test match. In the third and final Test, the Proteas will be looking for a consolation win, while, on the other hand, the Australian side will look to clean sweep the Test series.