South Africa suffered a humiliating series whitewash in the five match ODI series against Sri Lanka. It was only the second time South Africa lost all matches of a bilateral series that comprised three or more matches.

The other occasion was against West Indies in 1991-92 when South Africa lost all three matches of the series.

Worse, South Africa have now lost ten matches in a row, which equals their worst losing streak in ODIs. In 1994-95 season also South Africa had lost ten matches at a trot.

Also Read India-England ODI dossier

The present sequence started with the six-match series against New Zealand in New Zealand earlier this year. After winning the opening game, South Africa were routed by the hosts in remaining five matches. The following table lists the longest losing streaks in the ODIs.

Not surprisingly Bangladesh hold first three places. South Africa now join Bangladesh and Zimbabwe as the only teams to have lost 10 consecutive matches on two separate occasions.

Longest losing streaks:

No. of matches	Team	Period
23	Bangladesh	08 Oct 1999 to 09 Oct 2002
22	Bangladesh	31 Mar 1986 to 14 May 1998
18	Bangladesh	22 Feb 2003 to 12 Nov 2003
18	Zimbabwe	11 Jun 1983 to 14 Mar 1992
16	Kenya	27 Mar 1999 to 14 Oct 2001
16	Zimbabwe	23 Jun 2001 to 31 Oct 2001
14	Sri Lanka	11 Jan 1987 to 10 Jan 1988
12	Netherlands	17 Feb 1996 to 28 Feb 2003
11	England	27 Oct 2000 to 21 Jun 2001
10	Pakistan	30 Oct 1987 to 30 Mar 1988
10	South Africa	06 Apr 1994 to 28 Oct 1994
10	Zimbabwe	06 Mar 1998 to 27 Sep 1998
10	South Africa	17 Feb 2004 to 31 Aug 2004

ODI Series Whitewashes

Here is the list of ODI series of five matches between two sides that resulted in one winning all the matches:

Teams	Host	Year and series
West Indies beat India	Ind	1983-84, Charminar
West Indies beat New Zealand	WI	1984-85
West Indies beat Pakistan	WI	1987-88, Cable & Wireless
West Indies beat India	WI	1988-89, Cable & Wireless
New Zealand beat West Indies	NZ	1999-00
South Africa beat New Zealand	SA	2000-01 #
England beat Zimbabwe	Zim	2001-02
Pakistan beat Zimbabwe	Zim	2002-03
Pakistan beat Bangladesh	Pak	2003-04
Pakistan beat New Zealand	Pak	2003-04
Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe	Zim	2003-04
Sri Lanka beat South Africa	SL	2004

# this was actually a six-match series. One match was abandoned because of rain.