Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Schedule

Sri Lanka cricket team has just returned from South Africa after playing 2 Test matches. Their first Test match of the tournament started on 26 December 2020, and the second Test ended on 5 January 2021. Sri Lanka lost both the Tests. The first Test of the series was played at Centurion, in which they lost by an innings and 45 runs. Their batting collapse in the second innings cost them the match as they were bowled out for just 180 runs. Their dismal batting continued in the second Test at Johannesburg too, in which they lost by 10 wickets. Dimuth Karunaratne was the only batsman to score a century for Sri Lanka from both the Tests, while Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, and Hasaranga de Silva have scored half-centuries there. Vishwa Fernando shone with his five-wickets haul in the second Test.

Sri Lanka cricket team’s upcoming tournament is against England at home, in which the two teams will play 2 Test matches. The series was originally scheduled for March 2020, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first Test match will begin on 14 January 2021, while the second Test match will start on 22 January. Both the Tests are to be played at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Sri Lanka is sixth in the World Test Championship table, while England is ranked third.

There are currently no scheduled Sri Lanka Matches

Sri Lanka Vs India

Sri Lanka and India played their first Test match in 1982-83 in India which was drawn. Since then, both the teams played 44 Test matches, from which India won 20 and Sri Lanka won 7 matches, while they drew 17 Tests. Their last bilateral series was in Nov-Dec 2017, in which they played 3 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 3 T20Is. Sri Lanka lost all three series then, Test series by 0-1, ODI series by 1-2, and T20 series by 0-3.

The two sides played their first-ever game, an ODI in the 1979 World Cup, at Old Trafford, Manchester, which Sri Lanka won by 47 runs. They played a total of 159 ODI matches to date, out of which Sri Lanka won 56 matches, India won 91 and 11 matches yielded no results, while 1 game was tied.

Since their first T20I encounter in February 2009, Sri Lanka and India played 19 T20I games, from which the Lions won just 5 games, India won 13, and 1 match was abandoned.

Two encounters are noteworthy to mention here – 1996 World Cup semi-final game, in which India’s batsmen collapsed (120/8) while chasing Sri Lanka’s total of 251. The match could not be continued due to the rioting crowd, and Sri Lanka became the default winners. The second match was the ICC World Cup 2011 final match, in which Mahela Jayawardene played a heroic inning (103 runs off 88 balls). India eventually won the game by 6 wickets when MS Dhoni hit the winning six.

Sri Lanka Vs New Zealand

Sri Lanka faced New Zealand first time in the Prudential World Cup 1979, which they lost by 9 wickets. The two teams thereafter played 99 ODI matches, out of which the Lions won 41, lost 39, tied 1, while 8 matches ended in no-results. Their first Test encounter was in 1982-83 in New Zealand, for the two-Tests series, which Sri Lanka lost 0-2. Overall, these two sides played 36 Tests from which Sti Lanka won 9, lost 16, and drew 11.

When New Zealand toured Sri Lanka in 2009, they claimed the first white-wash against New Zealand by winning the two-Tests series by 2-0. Sri Lanka won the first Test at Galle by 202 runs, and the second at Colombo by 96 runs. Thilan Samaraweera was the player of the series for his 347 runs in two Tests which included two centuries (159 and 143 runs).

Head to head in the T20 format, the two sides played 19 games, from which the Lions won 7, lost 10, tied 1, and 1 match was abandoned.

Their last encounter with New Zealand was in 2019 at home. The two-Tests series was drawn 1-1, and Sri Lanka lost the 3-match T20I series by 1-2. In the first Test which Sri Lanka won, Dimuth Karunaratne was the player of the match for his knocks of 39 runs and 122 runs in the two innings of the first Test.

Sri Lanka Vs South Africa

Sri Lanka and South Africa clashed first time in Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992, in which Sri Lanka won by 3 wickets. Since then the two teams played 77 ODI matches, out of which Sri Lanka won 31, lost 44, tied 1, and 1 match was abandoned. Their first Test match was in 1993 at Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, which was drawn. Sri Lanka had lost the 3 Test series by 0-1, as they drew the other two matches. In 2000, Sri Lanka registered their first victory against South Africa. Overall, both the teams played 31 Tests and Sri Lanka won 9 of them, lost 16, and drew 6 Tests. In T20 format, the two sides clashed 13 times since their first game in 2012, out of which Sri Lanka won 5, lost 8 to South Africa.

Sri Lanka travelled to South Africa in February 2019 for 2 Tests, 5 ODIs, and 3 T20Is. They won both the Tests of the series but lost all the matches of the ODI and T20I series. The Test series win was historic, as it was their first-ever series win in South Africa, also, they became the first Asian team to win a Test series in South Africa. Player of the series Kusal Perera had played a crucial role with the bat, especially in the first Test (51 runs and 153 runs). In the recently concluded 2020-21 Test series between the two teams in South Africa, Sri Lanka lost both the Test matches.

Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh

Sri Lanka’s first association with Bangladesh dates back to 1986, when they played an ODI match in Asia Cup, and Sri Lanka had won the match by 7 wickets. The Lions played 48 ODI games against Bangladesh to date, and won 39, lost just 7, while 2 matches were abandoned. Their first Test encounter was in 2001-02, for a standalone Test match. Sri Lanka have never lost a Test series against Bangladesh so far. Head to head, in 20 Tests, Sri Lanka won 16, lost 1 (in 2016-17), and drew 3 Tests. Coming to T20Is, the two sides had 11 clashes since the 2007 ICC World Cup, out of which Sri Lanka won 7 and lost 4 games.

In July 2019, Sri Lanka hosted the Bangladesh cricket team to play 3 One Day International matches. The Lions won the ODI series by 3-0. Angelo Mathews was the player of the series for amassing 187 runs (best 87 runs) with two half-centuries. Kusal Perera had scored a century (111 runs) and he accumulated 183 runs.

Sri Lanka Vs West Indies

In the 1975 Prudential World Cup, the Sri Lankan cricket team faced a fierce West Indies cricket team, in which Sri Lanka lost by 9 wickets. To date, they played 60 ODIs, won 29, lost 28, and three matches were abandoned. The two teams played their first Test match in 1993-94 in Sri Lanka, which ended in a draw. Sri Lanka claimed a whitewash against West Indies in the 2001-02 series at home, winning all three Tests of the series. They again clean swept the 2005 and 2015-16 Test series, playing at home. They are yet to win a Test series in West Indies. Overall they played 20 Tests, won 9, lost 4, and drew 7 Tests. Head to head in T20s, these two teams had 11 encounters so far since 2009, out of which the Lions won 6, lost 5 games to West Indies.

In February 2020, West Indies visited Sri Lanka to play 3 ODIs and 2 T20I matches. Sri Lanka clean swept the ODI series by 3-0. In the second ODI game, Kusal Mendis (119 runs) and Avishka Fernando (127 runs) registered the highest third-wicket partnership of 239 runs for Sri Lanka. Later, Sri Lanka lost both the T20 games to West Indies.

Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan

Sri Lanka first played against Pakistan in an ODI match for the Prudential World Cup 1975, which they lost by 192 runs. Their first Test encounter was in 1981-82 in Karachi, Pakistan, in which Pakistan won by 204 runs. Since then both sides played 55 Tests, out of which Pakistan won 20, Sri Lanka 16, and 19 matches were drawn. In One Day Internationals, Sri Lanka’s winning percentage is 37.67%, with 58 wins and 91 defeats from 154 ODIs. In T20, the two sides had 20 encounters so far. They first played a T20I game in ICC T20 World Cup 2007, in which Sri Lanka lost by 33 runs. Head to head, Sri Lanka won 8 T20Is and Pakistan won 12.

Sri Lanka’s visit to Pakistan in 2008-09 had rocked the cricket world after the attack on a bus carrying Sri Lankan Cricketers was attacked in Lahore. The tour was abandoned in the middle of the second Test. The Sri Lankan team returned to Pakistan in 2019 to play 2 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 3 T20Is. It was after 10 years, a Test match was played in Pakistan. Sri Lanka lost the ODI series 0-2 and won the T20I series by 3–0. The Test series went in favour of Pakistan as Sri Lanka lost the second Test by 263 runs after the first match was drawn.

Sri Lanka Vs Australia

Sri Lanka and Australia played their first-ever Test in 1988 at Perth, in which Sri Lanka lost by an innings and 108 runs. Thereafter the two teams played 31 Tests, from which Sri Lanka managed just 4 wins, lost 19, and drew 8. Their first Test win against Australia was in the 1999 Test series in Sri Lanka, while the first series win was in 2016 again in Sri Lanka. They never won a Test in Australia so far. In One Day Internationals, the two teams had their first encounter in the 1975 World Cup. Since then, they played 97 ODIs, from which Sri Lanka won 32, lost 61, and 4 ODIs ended in no-results. Sri Lanka defeated Australia in the Wills World Cup 1996 final in Lahore, to clinch their maiden and only 50-Overs ICC World Cup trophy. Aravinda de Silva (107 runs) smashed the match-winning century in the final, and he was well supported by Arjuna Ranatunga (47 runs). Sanath Jayasuriya was awarded the player of the series for his all-round performance. When these two teams played again in ICC World Cup 2007 final, the table had turned and Sri Lanka faced defeat by 53 runs (D/L method).

The last time the two sides met was in October-November 2019 when Sri Lanka visited Australia to play 3 T20I matches. Australia won all three T20I matches of the series.

Sri Lanka Vs England

Sri Lanka faced England first time in an ODI match played on 13 February 1982 in Colombo, in which England won by 5 runs. Thereafter, the two sides played 75 ODIs, and both the teams won 36 matches, 1 match tied, and 2 were abandoned.

Their first Test match was on 17 February 1982, in which England won by 7 wickets. Since then, they played 34 Test matches, England won 15 of them, Sri Lanka won 8, and 11 Tests were drawn. The two sides are neck and neck in T20I games too; out of 9 T20I encounters, England won 5, while Sri Lanka won 4.

The last time these two teams played in a bilateral series was in 2018-19 when England toured Sri Lanka and played 5 ODIs, 1 T20I, and 3 Tests. Sri Lanka lost the ODI series by 1-3, they lost the only T20I match, and then face the whitewash in the Test series by losing all three Tests.