Sri Lanka national cricket team

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka cricket crest
Nickname(s)	The Lions
Association	Sri Lanka Cricket
Personnel
Captain	Dinesh Chandimal
Coach	Chandika Hathurusinghe
History
Test status acquired	1982
International Cricket Council
ICC status	Associate member (1965) Full member (1981)
ICC region	Asia
ICC Rankings Current [1] Best-ever Test 6th 2nd[2] ODI 8th 2nd[2] T20I 9th 1st
Tests
First Test	v  England at P. Sara Oval, Colombo; 17–21 February 1982
Last Test	v  South Africa at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo 20–23 July 2018
Tests Played Won/Lost Total [3] 274 88/101 (85 draws) This year [4] 7 4/1 (2 draw)
One Day Internationals
First ODI	v  West Indies at Old Trafford, Manchester; 7 June 1975
Last ODI	v  England at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla; 13 October 2018
ODIs Played Won/Lost Total [5] 825 378/405 (5 ties, 37 no result) This year [6] 14 5/8 (0 ties, 1 no result)
World Cup Appearances	11 (first in 1975)
Best result	Champions (1996)
World Cup Qualifier Appearances	1 (first in 1979)
Best result	Champions (1979)
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20I	v  England at the Rose Bowl, Southampton; 15 June 2006
Last T20I	v  South Africa at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo; 14 August 2018
T20Is Played Won/Lost Total [7] 109 55/52 (1 tie, 1 no result) This year [8] 7 4/3 (0 ties, 0 no result)
World Twenty20 Appearances	6 (first in 2007)
Best result	Champions (2014)
Test kit ODI kit
As of 13 October 2018

The Sri Lanka national cricket team, nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in international cricket. It is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T20 International (T20I) status.^[9] The team first played international cricket (as Ceylon) in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1982, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket. The current captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Test matches and One Day Internationals is Dinesh Chandimal.^[10]

Sri Lanka's national cricket team achieved considerable success beginning in the 1990s, rising from underdog status to winning the Cricket World Cup in 1996. Since then, the team has continued to be a force in international cricket. The Sri Lankan cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups consecutively. But they ended up being runners up in both those occasions.^[11] The batting of Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan backed up by the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, among many other talented cricketers, has underpinned the successes of Sri Lankan cricket in the last two decades.

Sri Lanka have won the Cricket World Cup in 1996, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 (co-champions with India), and have won the ICC World Twenty20 championship in 2014. They have been consecutive runners up in the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups, and have been runners up in the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009 and 2012. The Sri Lankan cricket team currently holds several world records, including the world record for the highest team total in Test cricket.

History

The Sri Lanka national cricket team began with the formation of the Colombo Cricket Club in 1832. By the 1880s a national team, the Ceylon national cricket team, was formed which began playing first-class cricket by the 1920s. The Ceylon national cricket team achieved associate member status of the International Cricket Council in 1965. Renamed Sri Lanka in 1972, the national team first competed in top level international cricket in 1975, when they played against West Indies during 1975 Cricket World Cup; West Indies won the match by 9 wickets at the Old Trafford, Manchester, England.^[12]

After Sri Lanka awarded Test status in 21 July 1981 as eighth Test playing nation, they had to wait until 6 September 1985, where Sri Lanka recorded their first Test win by beating India, in the second match of the series by 149 runs at the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo.^[13][14] They have also won the 2001-02 Asian Test Championship, defeating Pakistan in the final by an innings and 175 runs.^[15]

Sri Lanka registered their first ODI win against India at Manchester, England, in 16 June 1979.^[16] They also won the 1996 Cricket World Cup,^[17] co-champions in 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and also became five times Asian champions in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008 and 2014.

Sri Lanka played their first Twenty20 International (T20I) match at the Rose Bowl, on 15 June 2006, against England, winning the match by 2 runs.^[18] In 2014, they won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, defeating India by 6 wickets.^[19]

As of July 2018, Sri Lanka have faced nine teams in Test cricket—just recent Test nations Afghanistan and Ireland missing from their list of opponents—with their most frequent opponent being Pakistan, playing 51 matches against them.^[20] Sri Lanka have registered more wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh than any other team, with 14.^[20] In ODI matches, Sri Lanka have played against 17 teams; they have played against India most frequently, with a winning percentage of 39.49 in 149 matches.^[21] Within usual major ODI nations, Sri Lanka have defeated England on 34 occasions, which is their best record in ODIs.^[21] The team have competed against 13 countries in T20Is, and have played 15 matches against New Zealand. Sri Lanka have defeated Australia and West Indies 6 occasions each.^[22] Sri Lanka was the best T20I team in the world, where they ranked number one in more than 32 months, and reached World Twenty20 final in three times.

As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 272 Test matches; they have won 86 matches, lost 101 matches, and 85 matches were drawn.^[23] As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 816 ODI matches, winning 376 matches and losing 399; they also tied 5 matches, whilst 36 had no result.^[24] As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 108 T20I matches and won 54 of them; 52 were lost and 1 tied and 1 no result match as well.^[25]

From 8 July 2017 to 23 October 2017, Sri Lanka lost twelve consecutive ODI matches, which is their second longest losing run in ODIs.^[26][27] In the meantime, Sri Lanka involved 5-0 whitewash in three times against South Africa, India and Pakistan in 2017.

Test Cricket

Sri Lanka were awarded Test cricket status in 1981 by the International Cricket Council. They played their first Test match against England at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, on 17 February 1982. Bandula Warnapura was the captain for Sri Lanka in that match, which England won by 7 wickets.^[28]

Sri Lanka won their first Test match under the leadership of Duleep Mendis on 11 September 1985 against India, winning by 149 runs at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.^[29] Eventually they won the three-match Test series, 1-0.^[30] Sri Lanka had to wait more than seven years for their next series victory, which came against New Zealand in December 1992, when they won the two-match series 1-0.^[31] This was immediately followed by a one-wicket victory against England in a one-Test series.^[32]

Two years later, on 15 March 1995, Sri Lanka won their first overseas Test match under the leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga against New Zealand, when they beat them by 241 runs at Napier.^[33] This win also resulted in their first overseas Test series victory, 1-0.^[34] Their next series too was an overseas series, against Pakistan, and that one too resulted in Sri Lankan victory.^[35]

On 11 September 1999, under the leadership of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka won their first Test match against Australia, when they beat them by six wickets at Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy.^[36] Eventually they won the three-match Test series, 1-0.

On 14 June 2000, Sri Lanka played their 100th Test match. It was against Pakistan, at SSC, Colombo, under the leadership of Sanath Jayasuriya. Pakistan won by 5 wickets.^[37]

On 4 August 2016, they played their 250th Test match when they played Australia in Galle.^[38] They won the match by 229 runs,^[39] and also won the Warne-Muralidharan trophy for the first time since its inception. On 17 August 2016, under the leadership of Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia 3-0 for the first time in Test cricket.^[40]

Until 2017, Sri Lanka had whitewashed Zimbabwe three times, Bangladesh once and Australia once in Test cricket.

Sri Lanka played their first day-night Test match on 6 October 2017 against Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.^[41][42][43] Under the captaincy of Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka convincingly won the match by 68 runs and sweep the series 2-0. In the match, Dimuth Karunaratne became the first Sri Lankan to score a fifty, a century and a 150 in a day-night Test. Lahiru Gamage, who debut in the match became the first Sri Lankan to take a wicket in a day-night Test, whereas Dilruwan Perera became the first Sri Lankan to take five-wicket haul in a day-night Test.^[44]

Governing body

Sri Lanka Cricket (formerly the Board for Cricket Control or BCCSL), is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It operates the Sri Lankan cricket team and first-class cricket within Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of the major domestic competitions: the First-class tournament Premier Trophy, the List A tournament Premier Limited Overs Tournament and the Twenty20 Tournament. Sri Lanka Cricket also organise and host the Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament, a competition where five teams take part and represent four different provinces of Sri Lanka.

International grounds

Saravanamuttu

SSC

CCC

R. Premadasa

Tyronne Fernando

Galle

Asgiriya

Rangiri Dambulla

Muttiah Muralitharan

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Locations of all international grounds in Sri Lanka

Updated 13 October 2018.

Team colours

In Test matches, the team wears cricket whites, with an optional sweater or sweater-vest with a dark blue and blue V-neck for use in cold weather, such as Australia, England, and New Zealand tours. The Sri Lankan flag is found on the left side of jersey's chest with the Test cap number usually below the flag; helmets are a deep blue and the fielder's hat (usually a baseball cap or a wide-brimmed sunhat) is colored similar. The sponsor's logo displayed on the right side of the chest and on the sleeve with the Sri Lankan Cricket logo deployed on the left in test cricket. The period between 2000 and 2010 saw the sponsorship pass between Ceylon Tea, Reebok, Mobitel Sri Lanka and Dialog Axiata; Dilmah has remained a sponsor since the early 2000s, replacing Singer from the 1990s.

Sri Lanka's One Day and Twenty 20 kits vary from year to year with the team wearing its bright blue colour in various shades from kit to kit with yellow stripes in shoulders and waist. Historically, Sri Lanka's kits have had shades of bright blue and golden yellow. In the World Series Cup in 1984-85, Sri Lanka wore yellow uniforms with blue stripes.

For official ICC tournaments such as ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20 and Asia Cup, SRI LANKA is written on the front of the jersey in place of the sponsor logo, with the sponsor logo being placed on the sleeve. A remarkable change in the colour of the kit of Sri Lanka can be found during the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 edition in South Africa. The team coloured with pale silver and the kit has never seen since then in the team. Since then, Sri Lankan kit never changed from the usual brilliant blue colour and very fine yellow stripes. For 2016 ICC World Twenty20, orange and green colours in the flag also included in to the jersey. In 2017 ICC Champions Trophy pool game against India, the kit changed to mostly yellow colored shirt with stripes of blue and usual blue trousers.

However, for non-ICC tournaments and bilateral and tri-nation matches, the sponsor logo features prominently on the front of the shirt. Currently the main sponsors for Sri Lanka cricket are Ceylon Tea, Dialog Axiata, Huawei and MAS Holdings.

Tournament history

A red box around the year indicates tournaments hosted or co-hosted by Sri Lanka

Current squad

The squad comprises players who have represented Sri Lanka since the 1st of November 2017 till date.

Coaching staff

• Manager: Charith Senanayake
• Head Coach: Chandika Hathurusingha
• Batting Coach: Thilan Samaraweera
• Fielding Coach:
• Fast Bowling Coach: Rumesh Ratnayake
• Spin Bowling Coach: Piyal Wijetunge
• Strength & Conditioning Coach: Nick Lee
• Physiotherapist:
• Psychologist: Phil Jauncey

Records and statistics

Head to head record

International match Summary – Sri Lanka^[67][68][69]

Playing Record
Format	M	W	L	T	D/NR	Inaugural Match
Test matches	274	88	101	0	85	17 February 1982
One-Day Internationals	825	378	405	5	37	7 June 1975
Twenty20 Internationals	109	55	52	1	1	15 June 2006

Updated 14 October 2018

Test matches Test record versus other nations[67] Opponent M W L T D First win v  Afghanistan 0 0 0 0 0 - v  Australia 29 4 17 0 8 11 September 1999 v  Bangladesh 20 16 1 0 3 8 September 2001 v  India 44 7 20 0 17 11 September 1985 v  Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 - v  England 31 8 12 0 11 18 March 1993 v  Pakistan 53 16 19 0 18 18 March 1986 v  New Zealand 32 8 14 0 10 9 December 1992 v  South Africa 27 7 14 0 6 23 July 2000 v  West Indies 20 9 4 0 7 17 November 2001 v  Zimbabwe 18 13 0 0 5 14 September 1996 Updated 23 July 2018 Twenty20 International T20I record versus other nations[69] Opponent M W L T NR First win vs Test nations v  Afghanistan 1 1 0 0 0 17 March 2016 v  Australia 13 8 5 0 0 8 June 2009 v  Bangladesh 11 7 4 0 0 18 September 2007 v  England 8 4 4 0 0 15 June 2006 v  India 16 5 11 0 0 9 December 2009 v  Ireland 1 1 0 0 0 14 June 2009 v  New Zealand 15 6 7 1 1 22 December 2006 v  Pakistan 18 5 13 0 0 13 October 2008 v  South Africa 10 5 5 0 0 12 September 2012 v  West Indies 9 6 3 0 0 10 June 2009 v  Zimbabwe 3 3 0 0 0 10 October 2008 vs Associate Members v  Canada 1 1 0 0 0 12 October 2008 v  Kenya 1 1 0 0 0 14 September 2007 v  Netherlands 1 1 0 0 0 24 March 2014 v  United Arab Emirates 1 1 0 0 0 25 February 2016 Updated 14 August 2018

One-Day International ODI record versus other nations[68] Opponent M W L T NR First win vs Test nations v  Afghanistan 3 2 1 0 0 3 March 2014 v  Australia 96 32 60 0 4 13 April 1983 v  Bangladesh 45 36 7 0 2 2 April 1986 v  England 71 34 34 1 2 14 February 1982 v  India 158 56 90 1 11 18 June 1979 v  Ireland 4 4 0 0 0 18 April 2007 v  New Zealand 95 41 45 1 8 18 June 1983 v  Pakistan 153 58 90 1 4 12 March 1982 v  South Africa 71 31 38 1 1 2 March 1992 v  West Indies 56 25 28 0 3 19 October 1989 v  Zimbabwe 57 44 11 0 2 23 February 1992 vs Associate Members v  Bermuda 1 1 0 0 0 15 March 2007 v  Canada 2 2 0 0 0 19 February 2003 v  Kenya 6 5 1 0 0 6 March 1996 v  Netherlands 3 3 0 0 0 16 September 2002 v  Scotland 2 2 0 0 0 13 July 2011 v  United Arab Emirates 2 2 0 0 0 17 July 2004 Updated 14 October 2018

See also

• Cricket in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka women's national cricket team
• List of Sri Lanka national cricket captains
• List of Sri Lanka Test cricketers
• List of Sri Lanka ODI cricketers
• List of Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers

References

External links

• Official website