Canada v Sri Lanka

At Paarl, February 19, 2003. Sri Lanka won by nine wickets. Toss: Sri Lanka. International debut: B. B. Seebaran.

When Joe Harris, the Canada captain, said his side had not been able to handle the pressure, he was verging on comic understatement. Canada had been blown away for the lowest total in one-day international history; no one reached double figures; and Sri Lanka needed just 28 balls to knock off the runs. The whole match lasted under two hours - just 23.2 overs were bowled - making it comfortably the shortest in World Cup history. Inserted on a lively track, Canada were undone by the swing of Vaas and the pace and bounce of Nissanka (only playing because Gunaratne was injured), who returned career-best figures of four for 12. The high point of Canada's innings came when Harris hit Vaas for successive fours; three balls later, he hit his own wicket after being struck in the ribs by Nissanka. A total of 36 represented a minor recovery from the depths of 12 for six, but it was still two short of the 38 Zimbabwe made, also against Sri Lanka, in Colombo in December 2001. The Sri Lankan-born Sanjayan Thuraisingam prevented a ten-wicket win by removing Jayasuriya; it was scant consolation.

Man of the Match: R. A. P. Nissanka. Attendance: 3,298.