Batting coach rues South Africa's lack of energy, right attitude

"..It's been a long, full-on summer and the guys are only human, there may be a slight lack of energy" - Benkenstein © Getty

After South Africa collapsed to 128 all out on the second day in Port Elizabeth, their batting coach Dale Benkenstein has questioned the team's attitude coming into the series, arguing that the hosts were a "little bit complacent" to start with and then found themselves with little time to set things right in a two-match series.

"We came in a little bit complacent," Benkenstein admitted after the second day's play. "We addressed that, but it's still very important to have the right attitude coming into a series. We say all the right things, but when you go in thinking we'll probably have enough to beat the Sri Lankan side, I think it's a dangerous place to be. We had two days in between series. It's a full-on summer so you don't have time to prepare. You can't change what is really inside you."

Quinton de Kock has already spoken about the mystique of Sri Lankan bowlers, that caught the hosts off-guard on the opening day in Durban, and Benkenstein again pointed out to how South Africa were left with no presage of what's coming.

"We have not been at our best - after a pretty disappointing first game as well - against a side that we did not know a lot about," Benkenstein said. "There wasn't a lot of footage with which to analyse them. 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.

"We've been pretty strong mentally, we came up against some very good bowling attacks 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."

Sri Lanka lost two wickets in the chase on the second day, and need a further 137 runs on the third, in all likelihood the final day of the Test series. "The game is still on the line and if we can have a good hour first thing tomorrow morning (Saturday, February 23) 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 - from both teams," Benkenstein added.