Proteas batting coach Benkenstein unhappy with batsmen's complacency

By Proteas Batting Coach Benkenstein Unhappy With Batsmen'S Complacency
London [United Kingdom], Feb 23 (ANI): South Africa's batting coach Dale Benkenstein feels that the team's batsmen went into complacent mode ahead of their two-match Test series against Sri Lanka leading to poor batting performance in both the matches.
The coach said that it is very important to have a “right attitude” coming into a series while adding that having pre-conceived notions of the victory could be dangerous for any team.
“We came in a little bit complacent. We addressed that, but it is 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 will probably have enough to beat the Sri Lankan side, I think it is a dangerous place to be. We had two days in between series. It is a full-on summer so you do not have time to prepare. You cannot change what is really inside you", ESPN Cricinfo quoted Benkenstein, as saying.
In the first Test against Sri Lanka, no other batsman could hold the crease for a long time except for Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis.
Benkenstein praised the Sri Lankan bowlers, saying that all the bowlers performed well and surprised the South African team. He even said that good bowling brought Sri Lanka some wickets while adding some of the South African batsmen gave away their wickets cheaply.
"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. 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 are on the verge of creating history as they can become the first Asian team to defeat South Africa on their home ground in a Test series. Sri Lanka are chasing a target of 197 runs in the second Test match and are currently positioned perfectly to clinch the two-match series which they are leading 1-0. (ANI)