Captain Graeme Smith admitted South Africa's confidence is a major problem after nine consecutive one-day international defeats. "It is a nightmare for us at the moment. I don't know what we have to do get a win," Smith said after a fourth defeat to Sri Lanka.
"The dressing room is very quiet with a lot of soul-searching go on.
"I am really disappointed in the way we have played as I know what we are capable of much better."
South Africa's longest ever losing streak spanned 10 matches in 1994. Their last one-day win came at the start of the series in New Zealand in February.
 |  We don't want them to get confidence back on this tour |
They did not look like ending in on Saturday despite a half-century from Shaun Pollock as leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi took three wickets. "Our batsmen are finding it very difficult to score freely as their spinners are putting us under pressure and we are losing clusters of wickets," Smith added.
"When we are in the field we are bowling both sides of the wicket and it is a different ball game - it looks like the pitch is a road when we are bowling."
Sri Lanka went 14 matches without a win in 1987 and '88 and stand-in captain Mahela Jayawardene was in no doubt the tourists would recover.
"It can happen to any side and it has happened to us," he said. "I am sure though they will come back strongly.
"They have some really talented players and it is just a matter of them getting their confidence back.
"But we don't want them to get confidence back on this tour and that is why we have concentrated so hard on keeping them down."
MMIX
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SA in crisis?
