The South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head record is favouring the Proteas. Ahead of their upcoming clash at the Cricket World Cup, we dive deeper into the rivalry between these two teams.
South Africa and Sri Lanka locked horns against each other in the 50-over format a massive 80 times. The rivalry between the two teams dates back to 1992 when they faced for the first time in the history of ODI cricket.
South Africa are significantly ahead in this head to head record against Sri Lanka, having won 45 out of 80 played against them. Sri Lanka have emerged victorious on 33 occasions, with one match ending in a tie and the other in no result.
When it comes to the World Cup, the two teams played six times with South Africa winning four of them.
Sri Lanka ODI World Cup squad: Who’s in and who’s out?
| Matches Played | 80 |
| South Africa won | 45 |
| Sri Lanka won | 33 |
| Tie | 1 |
| No Result | 1 |
South Africa and Sri Lanka will start their campaign on October 7, the first double-header day of World Cup 2023. The match is scheduled to commence at 2 PM IST at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the national capital of India.
South Africa have had their injury issues in the lead up to the mega event but they played admirably well at home against Australia in the five-match series last month.
They were 0-2 down after first two matches but came back strongly to win the last three games of the series and pocket it 3-2. Even in the warm-up game against New Zealand, they fared decently and will be confident coming into the competition.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are missing their trump card in Wanindu Hasaranga and pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera. But they played extremely well in the Asia Cup last month to make it to the final only to lose to India.
Despite losing both warm-up matches, the Dasun Shanaka-led side will be quietly confident of taking down some top teams in this World Cup.
Contents
- 1 South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head team ODI records and stats
- 2 South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head player stats (ODI)
- 3 South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head ODI Bowling records
- 4 ODI Wicket-keeping records
- 5 South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head ODI Fielding records
- 6 Individual ODI records
- 7 South Africa vs Sri Lanka: What happened in the last meeting?
- 8 South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head last match scorecard
South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head team ODI records and stats
The two teams faced each other in the ODI format more than two years ago back in September 2021. Interestingly, Sri Lanka had the upper hand on them last time they played a bilateral series in the island nation. Here’s a detailed look at how the two teams fared in last five meetings:
| Date | Winner | Won by | Venue |
| 16/03/2019 | South Africa | 41 runs | Cape Town |
| 28/06/2019 | South Africa | 9 wickets | Chester-le-Street |
| 02/09/2021 | Sri Lanka | 14 runs | Colombo |
| 04/09/2021 | South Africa | 67 runs | Colombo |
| 07/09/2021 | Sri Lanka | 78 runs | Colombo |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head player stats (ODI)
ODI Batting records
Most runs
With such a huge history, none of the current players make it to the list of most run-getters in SA vs SL matches. Kumar Sangakkara is at the top of the pile with 1789 runs. The only Sri Lankan players in the top five of this list is Marvan Atapattu, at fourth place.
| Player Name | Runs |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 1789 |
| Jacques Kallis | 1434 |
| Faf du Plessis | 1166 |
| Marvan Atapattu | 1164 |
| Hashim Amla | 1143 |
Highest individual score
| Player | Runs |
| Faf du Plessis (SA) | 185 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 169 |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 154 |
| Quinton de Kock (SA) | 128 |
| Boeta Dippenaar (SA) | 125* |
Highest average (min. 100 runs scored)
| Player | Average |
| Charitha Asalanka (SL) | 65.33 |
| Brian McMillan (SA) | 59.5 |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 57.15 |
| Neil McKenzie (SA) | 54.40 |
| Janneman Malan (SA) | 54 |
Most centuries
| Player | 100s |
| Hashim Amla | 5 |
| Quinton de Kock | 3 |
| Faf du Plessis | 3 |
| Jacques Kallis | 3 |
| AB de Villiers | 3 |
Most sixes
| Player | Sixes |
| Jacques Kallis | 29 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | 22 |
| David Miller | 18 |
| JP Duminy | 15 |
| Thisara Perera | 14 |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head ODI Bowling records
Most wickets
Again, like in the list of most runs, none of the active players are part of this list in top five. Shaun Pollock sits at the top with 51 scalps with legendary Murali just below him picking up 49 wickets.
| Player Name | Wickets |
| Shaun Pollock | 51 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan | 49 |
| Chaminda Vaas | 40 |
| Lasith Malinga | 37 |
| Imran Tahir | 33 |
Best bowling figures
| Player Name | Figures |
| Akila Dananjaya | 6-29 |
| Lance Klusener | 6-49 |
| Nuwan Zoysa | 5-26 |
| Makhaya Ntini | 5-37 |
| Charl Langeveldt | 5-39 |
Best bowling average (min. 5 wickets)
| Player Name | Average |
| Muttiah Muralitharan | 23.34 |
| Shaun Pollock | 23.90 |
| Chaminda Vaas | 28 |
| Lasith Malinga | 29.64 |
| Jacques Kallis | 29.74 |
ODI Wicket-keeping records
Most dismissals (overall)
| Player Name | Dismissals |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 60 |
| Mark Boucher | 55 |
| Quinton de Kock | 42 |
| David Richardson | 15 |
| Romesh Kaluwitharana | 12 |
Most dismissals (single match)
| Player Name | Dismissals |
| Quinton de Kock | 5 |
| David Richardson | 4 |
| David Richardson | 4 |
| Mark Boucher | 4 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 4 |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head ODI Fielding records
Most catches (overall)
| Player Name | Catches |
| JP Duminy | 22 |
| Faf du Plessis | 21 |
| Herschelle Gibbs | 15 |
| Marvan Atapattu | 13 |
| Shaun Pollock | 13 |
Most catches (single match)
| Player Name | Catches |
| Roshan Mahanama | 3 |
| Brian McMillan | 3 |
| Marvan Atapattu | 3 |
| Neil McKenzie | 3 |
| Justin Kemp | 3 |
Individual ODI records
Most matches
| Player Name | Matches |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | 44 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 44 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | 43 |
| Jacques Kallis | 36 |
| Mark Boucher | 35 |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka: What happened in the last meeting?
Sri Lanka won the last ODI against South Africa comfortably by 78 runs on September 7, 2021 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka.
The hosts won the toss and opted to bat first. But they could only muster 203 runs for the loss of nine wickets in their 50 overs. Charith Asalanka was the top-scorer with a 47-run knock with South Africa’s four spinners sharing eight wickets between them.
In response, South Africa were never in the chase losing wickets at regular intervals. They could only score 125 runs before getting bowled out in 30 overs. Heinrich Klaasen was the only batter crossing the 20-run mark while Maheesh Theekshana was the top bowler with figures of 4/37.
Dushmantha Chameera was awarded player of the match for scoring 29 runs and then picking up two wickets for just 16 runs in the low-scoring encounter.
Match date: 7 September 2021
Venue: Colombo
Result: Sri Lanka won by 78 runs
South Africa vs Sri Lanka head to head last match scorecard
Sri Lanka
| Batsman | Runs | Out |
| Avishka Fernando | 10 | lbw b Maharaj |
| Dinesh Chandimal | 9 | lbw b Linde |
| Kamindu Mendis | 16 | c & b Linde |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 31 | c Klaasen b Markram |
| Charith Asalanka | 47 | c Klaasen b Shamsi |
| Dasun Shanaka | 13 | c Mulder b de Maharaj |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 6 | c Hendricks b Maharaj |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 16 | lbw b Shamsi |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 29 | c Malan b Mulder |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 10 | not out |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 2 | not out |
| Extras | 14 | |
| TOTAL | 203/9 |
South Africa
| Batsman | Runs | Out |
| Janneman Malan | 18 | c De Silva b Theekshana |
| Aiden Markram | 2 | c De Silva b Jayawickrama |
| Reeza Hendricks | 1 | b Chameera |
| Rassie van der Dussen | 5 | c Mendis b Chameera |
| Heinrich Klaasen | 22 | lbw b Theekshana |
| Wiaan Mulder | 2 | b Hasaranga |
| Andile Phehlukwayo | 17 | C Chandimal b Asalanka |
| George Linde | 18 | c Mendis b Hasaranga |
| Kagiso Rabada | 8 | c De Silva b Theekshana |
| Keshav Maharaj | 15 | c Chandimal b Theekshana |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 9 | not out |
| Extras | 8 | |
| TOTAL | 125 |
