Proteas guru admits batsmen have been ‘complacent’

Proteas batting coach Dale Benkenstein admitted on Friday that his batsmen came into the series against Sri Lanka feeling complacent, but he says they still have the mental strength to score decent runs on difficult South African pitches.

“We came in a little bit complacent, we addressed that, but it’s still very important to have the right attitude coming into a series. There’s always been a little in the pitches, but both sides have not batted well, we have especially not been at our best after a pretty disappointing first game as well. We’re saying all the right things, but it’s difficult to change what’s inside you and being a little complacent is a dangerous place to be.

“But we’ve been pretty strong mentally in recent times, we came up against some very good bowling attacks last summer [India and Australia] and we scored enough runs to win those series. So I can’t really put my finger on what’s gone wrong now, but it’s been a long, full-on summer and the guys are only human, there may be a slight lack of energy,” Benkenstein said after South Africa had been skittled out for just 128 in 44.3 overs on the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park on Friday, leaving the tourists poised to claim an historic series triumph.

With Sri Lanka needing just 137 more runs on Saturday, and the Proteas hunting eight wickets to avoid probably their worst ever home series result, Faf du Plessis and his team will put on their whites for one last time this summer and Benkenstein believes they can still snatch victory from the flames of defeat.

“We just haven’t been at our best but the game is still on the line and if we can have a good hour first thing tomorrow morning then we could make it hard for them to get the runs. There’s a little bit still there in the pitch and we have good bowlers. Sri Lanka have fought hard and put us under pressure, but overall the cricket has not been good, especially the batting.

“There’s always been a little in the pitches, but both sides have not batted well. You have to give credit to the Sri Lankan bowlers, they’ve shown good skill, but we’ve given them soft wickets at crucial times. I keep thinking that it will be sorted out in the next innings, the batsmen have worked as hard as ever, that never changes, but we just haven’t been at our best,” Benkenstein said.

For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.