Sri Lanka have lost the most ODIs in history by a nation in cricket after they suffered an eight-wicket loss in the second ODI against England at The Oval.
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Sri Lanka have endured a tough tour of England so far. Their problems on the field and off the field have resulted in plenty of heartbreak. Sri Lanka were whitewashed 3-0 in the Twenty20 Internationals. The poor performance saw many Sri Lanka fans unleash their wrath on the team. The #unfollowcricketers saw many fans turning their back on the Sri Lanka cricketers. Before the ODIs, Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella breached the bio-bubble that saw them sent back home.
Sri Lanka have lost the first two ODIs in Durham and The Oval. Heading into the match at Bristol, the Lankan team are low on confidence. The mood in the camp has not been helped by this one major statistic. After the loss at The Oval, SL lost their 428th ODI in their history. This has created a new world record for the team with the most losses in ODIs. Before the match at The Oval, the Lankans were level with India on 427 losses.
In the history of ODI cricket, only three nations have lost over 400 ODIs and all are from the subcontinent. India have lost 427 times while SL have tasted defeat in 428 games. Pakistan are the other side to have lost over 400 games, losing 414.
But, Pakistan and India have a better win-loss ratio than Sri Lanka. Pakistan have won 490 out of 933 ODIs. India have won 516 out of 993 ODIs. Australia have the most wins in ODIs with 579 out of 955 games. SL have won only 390 out of 860 ODIs with a winning percentage of 47. Teams that have a winning percentage in excess of 50 are deemed to have a superior head-to-head ratio.
SL are one of the four nations to have won all three ICC limited-overs trophies. They won the 1996 World Cup, shared the Champions Trophy in 2002 with India. They also won the 2014 ICC World T20 in Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka’s woes will not get any easier in the coming weeks. They are preparing to play a three-match ODI and Twenty20 International series against India. That series has already come under some controversy due to the comments made by Arjuna Ranatunga. Sri Lanka winning skipper said India was sending it’s ‘B-team’ and he used that as a platform to criticize the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.
Sri Lanka have not won only one ODI series against an established Test-playing nation in the last five years. Their only win came in 2020 when they beat the West Indies at home 3-0. Sri Lanka last won a series against an established nation in 2014 when they defeated England in England.
Against India, they have not won a bilateral series against them for nearly 30 years. With the Indian cricket team’s current bench strength, it seems that this might be prolonged. The series will begin from July 13 and end on July 25. All the matches will be played at the Premadasa stadium.
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