South Africa have to become more ruthless in their approach as they seek to secure a series-winning victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka, captain Graeme Smith said on Friday. South Africa have not won a home series since beating Bangladesh in 2008. They have lost and drawn two series against Australia and drawn series against England and India.
The hosts are coming off a comprehensive innings and 81-run win over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Centurion and have the chance to win the three-Test series when the second Test starts at Kingsmead in Durban on December 26. "We are in the process of improving certain facets of our game. Being more ruthless, being able to string three sessions together in a day is something that we are really trying to do. We haven't been able to do that consistently and that is where we have been costing ourselves so we want to improve on that," Smith told a news conference.
South Africa's skipper went on to say that it was important that his team did not lose their focus during the Christmas break. Smith's opposite number, Tillakaratne Dilshan, has a completely different set of problems as he tries to lift his players after a run of 15 Tests without a win. "We have had a lot of meetings over the last two days about what areas we need to improve on. I feel everybody is mentally strong at the moment. They know what their roles are and they will give 100 percent," said Dilshan.
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