ESPNcricinfo picks five of Sri Lanka’s most brutal performances against lesser oppositions in limited-overs cricket
Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Mar-2014
ScorecardSri Lanka had been minnows themselves not long before the 1996 World Cup, but as if to illustrate how quickly they had progressed since, their batsmen laid a record total of 398 on Kenya, in Kandy. Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana achieved one of the rapid starts that would make Sri Lanka’s campaign famous, but it was Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga that took the total from imposing to momumental. De Silva hit 145 from 115 balls – incidentally Sri Lanka’s first ever World Cup ton – and Ranatunga struck the fastest fifty in World Cup cricket at the time, off 29 balls. Kenya managed 254 for 7 in their 50 overs, but in truth, were never in the game.
ScorecardZimbabwe have suffered the ignominy of recording the lowest ever ODI total at Sri Lanka’s hands, but another atrociously one-sided encounter is even more memorable, thanks to a world-record haul for Chaminda Vaas. Having asked Zimbabwe to bat in Colombo, Vaas began his plunder first ball, and he would account for eight Zimbabwe batsmen in a brutal spell of swing bowling. Just as it appeared Vaas would become the first bowler to take all 10 wickets in an ODI, captain Sanath Jayasuriya brought Muttiah Muralitharan into the attack, and he dismissed no.10 and 11 in the first four balls of his spell. Zimbabwe had sunk to 38 all out and Sri Lanka chased the target in 4.2 overs.
ScorecardNo Canada batsman would make double figures, and five would record ducks in this 2003 World Cup match, as Vaas, Prabath Nissanka and Dilhara Fernando steamrolled them for 36 all out – the second lowest ODI total. They were all out in 18.4 overs, and Sri Lanka would need only 4.4 to knock the runs off. Marvan Atapattu top-scored, finishing with a surprisingly brisk strike-rate of 171.
ScorecardFewer than four months after South Africa and Australia had played out the Johannesburg classic that tore the highest-ODI total record from Sri Lanka, they wrenched it back again in a mauling in Amstelveen. Typically, Jayasuriya was lead-butcher with the bat, walloping 157 runs from 104 balls. Almost 65% of his runs came in boundaries, as Sri Lanka collectively struck 56 fours and three sixes. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s unbeaten 117 from 78 balls brought the innings to a furious close at 443 for 9, before Netherlands were dismissed for 248.
ScorecardHaving achieved the highest Test and ODI totals against India and Netherlands respectively, Sri Lanka completed the set against Kenya, at the inaugural World Twenty20. As with the other two records, Jayasuriya top-scored. His 88 off 44 set the innings off apace, and it would only grow more frenzied as Mahela Jayawardene mauled a 27-ball 65 and Jehan Mubarak slammed 46 not out from 13. Sri Lanka finished on 260 for 6 and Kenya were blasted out for 88.
