Watch: Sri Lankans Take A Leaf Out Of Japan's Book, Clean Stadium Post Loss

Sri Lanka lost the third One-day International (ODI) against South Africa at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on August 5 as the visitors took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match ODI series. Despite the loss, the Sri Lankan cricket fans won hearts by staying back and cleaning the stadium after the match got over. Appreciating the effort put in by the fans, the official Twitter handle of Sri Lanka Cricket posted a video of fans cleaning the stadium.

..... #LKA #SLvSA pic.twitter.com/FWVjKuCBMK

— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) August 8, 2018

This is not the first time this year that fans have stayed back to clean the stadium after a particular match.

In the recently-concluded FIFA World Cup 2018, the Japanese fans and players alike won hearts of the footballing fraternity.

Japan were knocked out of the tournament in the Round of 16 clash after Belgium scored a late stoppage time goal. Despite the heart-breaking loss, Japanese fans set a precedent for fans across the world by cleaning the stadium stands after the match.

Not only that, the players even cleaned their dressing room and left a 'Thank You' note written in Russian before leaving the country.

Japan was winning comfortably 0-2 against Belgium but ended up losing 3-2 with a 94-minute goal from Belgium. This is how they left their locker room. World champions, if you ask me. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/fbai3oyIcf

— Ismael Lpez Medel (@ismaelmedel) July 3, 2018

In the 3rd ODI, South Africa's Reeza Hendricks scored a scintillating century on his ODI debut to set up his team's series-clinching 78-run victory. Hendricks made 102 off 89 deliveries to help South Africa post 363/7 and then bowl out the hosts for 285 in 45.2 overs.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva fought the lone battle as he scored a career-best 84. For the visitors, pacer Lungi Ngidi claimed four wickets while fellow paceman Andile Phehlukwayo took three.

Sri Lanka, who won the Test series 2-0 and lost the ODI series, will play for pride in the fourth ODI against South Africa August 8.

After the conclusion of the ODI series, Sri Lanka will host South Africa for a lone T20I match on August 14 at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

Topics mentioned in this article

Sri Lanka Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Cricket