Sri Lanka collapsed to a humiliating 258-run defeat to South Africa in the first one-dayer in Paarl, where they were bowled out for a dismal 43 - their lowest-ever ODI score and the third-largest margin of defeat by runs.

It was a dream captaincy debut for AB de Villiers, who was also the man behind the stumps. He won the toss and took first option with the bat on what looked like a batsmen-friendly wicket.

The decision looked to have backfired early as Graeme Smith was back in the hut inside three overs when he edged Lasith Malinga to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, but a fighting stand of 144 for the second wicket between Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla took The Proteas to 153 for two, with 22 overs still to go, and the home side looked on course for a score of around 320.

After scoring a double-ton in the third Test in Cape Town, Kallis brought his Test match form into the shorter form of the game and raced to 72 - his 85th ODI half-ton and looked good money for a century. However, some sloppy running between himself and Amla saw his innings come to a halt when Amla tapped a ball straight to Mahela Jayawardene in the covers and set off for the run. Kallis was late to start and never reached full pace as the direct-hit saw him comfortably out of the frame.

Amla then had to push on to make sure he reached three figures and did so in style as he reached his ton off 114 balls. De Villiers came in to hit a brisk 52 off 40 deliveries before his dismissal signaled the start of a mini collapse for the home side. The skipper was beaten by an in-swinging yorker from Malinga and shortly after it was Albie Morkel who holed out to Angelo Mathews down the ground after scoring a brisk 25 off 17 balls.

A ball later Amla was out when he edged Malinga to Sangakkara and then JP Duminy was back in the hut for the tamest of caught-and-bowled dismissals to Ajantha Mendis for a duck.

Faf du Plessis and Dale Steyn became victims four and five for Malinga respectively, both bowled by the slinging paceman. South Africa eventually got past the 300-run mark, but Sri Lanka did well to pull them back as they looked well on course for a score of around 330.

The Sri Lankan innings started in terrible fashion, with Upul Tharanga going for a duck. The very next over skipper Dilshan was caught behind off Lonwabo Tsotsobe and the wickets continued to crumble as Dinesh Chandimal (four), Kumar Sangakkara (four), Jayawardene (two) and Mathews (duck) all failed to reach double figures, leaving Sri Lanka at 13 for six, in desperate trouble, and within sight of breaking Zimbabwe's record of 35 - the lowest ever ODI score.

Kosala Kulasekara (19) managed to apply himself somewhat when South African openers Morne Morkel (four for 10) and Tsotsobe (three for 19) were taken out of the attack, but the wickets continued to tumble on the other side as Dale Steyn and Robin Peterson got in on the action as well.

Sri Lanka managed to go past the mark of 35, but failed to overcome their lowest total of 55 as they were eventually bowled out 43, five balls short of 21 overs and 258 runs shy of South Africa's score, making it the visitors' worst defeat in ODIs.