Sri Lankan fall to nadir at Paarl

Sri Lanka is another Cricket crazy country and they play the game the hard way.  In ODI, they debuted in 1975, performed well and in 1979 beat India in WC.  They have played many close matches.

There have been 97 occasions when Teams have scored 100 or less in ODIs and 8 occasions of scores less than 50; 3 occasions below 40 – all the three of them were against Sri Lanka. 

Team	Score	Overs	Opposition	Ground
Zimbabwe	35	18	Sri Lanka	Harare
Canada	36	18.4	Sri Lanka	Paarl
Zimbabwe	38	15.4	Sri Lanka	Colombo (SSC)
Sri Lanka	43	20.1	South Africa	Paarl
Pakistan	43	19.5	West Indies	Cape Town
Zimbabwe	44	24.5	Bangladesh	Chittagong
Canada	45	40.3	England	Manchester
Namibia	45	14	Australia	Potchefstroom

At Paarl, South Africa, they had a different taste of history as they became part of that scores below 50 – being bowled out for a paltry 43.  Earlier SA made a massive 301 for 8 and ended up with a big 258 runs victory.   Paarl, is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Srilankans have chased big totals and have always been very competitive in ODI format but they crashed to their lowest total making a measly 43.  Sri Lanka's 258-run defeat in Paarl was the third largest in ODI history, giving AB de Villiers the perfect start to his captaincy.

He may not be the most attractive player to watch but has been making so many runs and Hashim Amla made his 9^th century.  Slinga Malinga took another 5 for, but it was more than a competitive total and Lankans capitulated rather meekly.  Morne Morkel proved too difficult to handle as he took 4 for 10 and captured the Man of the Match.  The opening pair Upul Taranga and Tillakaratne Dilshan,  bagged a duck each. When Mahela Jayawardene  got out in the 8^th over it was a precarious 13/6 and threat of  ignominy of the lowest score in one-day history loomed large.  SL tail offered some resistance to end up at 43. 

The match may not be remembered for the 5 for or the SA batting but for the low total that Lankans made.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.