5 worst defeats for Sri Lanka in ODIs

#1 258 run loss to South Africa at Paarl, 2012

Hashim Amla brings up his century

Around a year earlier, Sri Lanka had played in the World Cup final but if anyone saw them play South Africa in the 1st game of the 5 match ODI series at Paarl, no one would have believed that.

South Africa chose to bat first and opening batsman Hashim Amla put the Sri Lankan bowlers to the sword to score an excellent 112. A quick 73 from Jacques Kallis and a whirlwind 52 from AB de Villiers saw South Africa end up with 301 for 8 in their 50 overs.

The presence of such high caliber players like Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, T Dilshan and Angelo Matthews in the batting line-up meant that the match was not completely over by any means.

However, once the chase started, Sri Lanka were blown away and lost half their side in 5 overs. Morne Morkel and L Tsotsobe reduced them to 9 for 5 in 5 overs and from then on it was a matter of time. Three out of the top 6 scored ducks and Sri Lanka were shot out for only 43 in the 21st over.