Need to keep India under 250, says Smith

CAPE TOWN - South Africa captain Graeme Smith wants to put India under some pressure in the final Test starting here Sunday by bowling them out under 250.

“From our bowling point of view, we have kept India under 250 in three of the four innings. If we can maintain that - even get a little bit tighter and control that run rate, we can put them under pressure,” Smith said on the eve of the Test match here Saturday.

Smith, however, admitted that batting is a concern for his team.

“We were a poor batting unit in Durban and we have had a good, honest chat about that. Our batting unit has been very successful over the last period of time. Our top six has been our strength and hopefully we can come out here and put in a good performance. We all have good records here and it is a good ground for us,” he said.

Asked about the tight scheduling of the series, Smith said: “Back to back Test matches are more of a mental thing. We had a bit of a work-out Friday but it is now more about mental preparation and execution of plans over the five days. We have played a lot of cricket and done a lot of training and it is now about switching on our minds and making sure that we are ready for tomorrow.”

Smith wants a disciplined performance from his team.

“We were not as focused as we should have been and we lacked a bit of discipline at key moments (in Durban). We have had a lot of success as a batting unit but in Durban we seemed to lose our minds. We have spoken a lot about what needs to be done,” he said.