The South African cricket team had salt rubbed into their wounds when they discovered that some of the players' money and apparels were stolen from right under their nose.
The African team lodged a complaint with the local police after they lost cash worth 1.2 lakh Sri Lankan Rupees and some of the team outfit during their stay at the five-star hotel Taj Samudra.
The South Africans had moved to Hotel Cinnamon in the lead upto the tri-series from August to 14 to 29, ironically, to escape the security hassles which they would have to face because of the Indian team's stay at the same hotel.
The stolen stuff included Sri Lankan Rupees 75,000 and 46,000 belonging to Jacques Rudolph and Makhaya Ntini respectively, team jerseys and jackets of Roger Telemachus and Robin Peterson, and official sponsors kit of media manager Gordon Templeton.
"We discovered it only at the time of packing our things when we moved out [of Taj Samudra]," Templeton said.
The incident would have added to the miseries of the South Africans who lost the recent two-Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0 and are also facing injury problems ahead of their tri-series opener against Sri Lanka on Monday.
Speedster Makhaya Ntini suffered a hamstring injury during the second and final Test while veteran Shaun Pollock, who missed the first Test to be with his wife at the time of the birth of their second child, is also reportedly facing fitness concerns.
Meanwhile, South Africa's warm-up match against a local outfit on Saturday was cancelled due to damp ground conditions.
