Sri Lanka’s cup of woes overflowed on Wednesday as they crashed to their biggest ever loss in ODI cricket at the hands of South Africa in the first match of the series. Needing 302 to win the game, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 43, their lowest ever score in this format of the game.
South Africa V Sri Lanka 1st ODI Highlights: Visitors Lose By 258 Runs
Sri Lanka crashed to their worst loss ever in ODI cricket when they were bowled out for 43 against South Africa at Paarl.
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It was also the lowest total made by a top-tier country, ahead only to Zimbabwe’s 35 and 38 and Canada’s 36. All these three lowest ODI totals were made against Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s 43 all out in 1993 against the West Indies was the earlier lowest by a top team.
South Africa found no demons in the pitch as they managed to pile a score of 301 in their 50 overs that included a century by Hashim Amla and half-centuries by AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis. There was a five-wicket haul for Lasith Malinga.
However, the trouble started in the very first over of the Lankan innings as Upul Tharanga departed for a duck off the bowling of Morne Morkel. Then Lonwabo Tsotsobe joined in the fun to pick up the wickets of captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal, before Morkel made it 9/5 with the dismissals of Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews in the same over. The innings was only five overs old at this stage.
Tsotsobe made it three wickets for himself when he had Mahela Jayawardene cutting it straight to point and after a brief resistance from the tail, the Lankan side was dismissed for 43.
Morkel’s 4/10 in six overs won him the man of the match.
Sri Lanka will now hope for a much better performance in the second ODI that will be played at East London on January 14.
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