Hapless Proteas malfunction with bat and ball again as second-string Aussies gallop to win

Winning the ODI series against Australia might not exactly be top priority for the Proteas with the bigger picture of the looming World Cup in view, but on their current trajectory the South Africans will traipse to India with zip-all form in the bank.

Careless and, at various stages, hapless too, Rob Walter's tournament designates are showing up poorly against their rampant opponents as they slumped to a 123-run defeat at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Saturday night.

At least they managed to a record reverse in the 50-over format - Pakistan still wear that badge of honour with 2002's 182-run triumph in Gqeberha - but what renders this result more damaging is the fact that the Proteas lost by such a comprehensive margin against a weaker (relatively speaking, of course) Aussie combination than in the opener.

Except for being 0-2 down in the five-match series, the South Africans have also lost all six of their outings in 2023/24 to date.

Regardless of which parts of the Proteas' previously accomplished attack are malfunctioning, the reality is that their current form is hugely concerning.

SCORECARD | Proteas v Australia, 2nd ODI

In keeping with their startling indiscipline, the hosts - who picked Anrich Nortje for his first outing - hemorrhaged 392/8 after Temba Bavuma sent the visitors in to bat.

While he would've anticipated this new surface playing better than its snail-paced counterpart in the opening encounter two nights ago, he and his team-mates surely wouldn't have guessed a run-scoring turnaround to this extent.

The eventual total could, in truth, have been over 400 had it not been for a semblance of a fightback in the closing overs of the Aussie batting effort, which was just 7 short of the ground-record 399/9 the