5 worst defeats for Sri Lanka in ODIs
After the initial years as an international team that saw them struggle for recognition, Sri Lanka eventually became one of the greatest ODI sides in the world and went on to dominate this particular format of the game for more than a decade.
Ever since they won the World Cup in 1996, they became one of the biggest forces in world cricket and went on to play two more finals of the World Cup.
That being said, like any other proud cricketing nation, Sri Lanka have not been able to avoid crushing and embarrassing defeats over the course of their existence.
While it is great to have a look at some of the best wins recorded by a great cricketing nation, it is always interesting to go through some of the more inglorious defeats suffered by it.
So here is a look at 5 of those defeats that Sri Lanka would definitely like to forget but the rest of the cricketing world won’t for a long time.
#5 81 run loss to India at Sharjah, 1998
In the late 1990s, Sri Lanka used to dominate India in ODI cricket and considering the fact that they were the world champions at the time, it was not much of a surprise. In the tri-series at Sharjah back in 1998, India did well against their sub-continental rivals and in the 2nd game against Sri Lanka, they handed the world champions an embarrassing defeat.
On a difficult pitch, India’s batsmen struggled after having been put in to bat first and it took a patient 64 from Ajay Jadeja for them to reach a score of 179 all out in 49.5 overs.
Still, it was a target that Sri Lanka were expected to overhaul with ease and avenge their loss to India in the 1st game of the tournament.
However, things started going wrong from the outset as Javagal Srinath dismissed Sanath Jayasuriya off the 2nd ball of the 1st over and in the next over, Ajit Agarkar trapped Avishka Gunawardene leg before.
Only Aravinda de Silva resisted the slide for a bit and scored 29, but the Indian spinners Sunil Joshi and Anil Kumble bowled brilliant spells to keep Sri Lanka in check. They slumped to 21 for 4 and then 47 for 6, before being all out for 93 in 39 overs.