The story of Sri Lanka Cricket

Sri Lanka national cricket team

The Sri Lankan cricket team is a national cricket team representing Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1975, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test playing nation. The Sri Lankan team transformed themselves from the underdog status to a major cricketing nation during the 1990s. The team went on to take 1996 Cricket World Cup beating Australia in the finals, and becoming the World Champions. Since then, the team continued as a major force in international cricket, with ups and downs in certain periods. The Sri Lanka team did well to reach the finals of 2007 Cricket World Cup but lost to Australia in a rain affected match to become the runners up. The batting of Sanath Jayasuriya (http://content-www.cricinfo.com/slc/content/player/49209.htmlSanath Jayasuriya, The Master Blaster

and Aravinda de Silva (retired), backed up by the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas among many other talented cricketers has led to the successes of Sri Lankan cricket during the last 15 years. It is administrated by Sri Lanka Cricket.
As of October 2007, the Sri Lankan team has played 170 Test matches, winning 29.41%, losing 37.05% and drawing 33.52% of its games.

History of Sri Lankan international cricket

Early years

Ceylon, as the country was known before 1972, played its first first-class match under that name against MCC at Nomads Ground, Victoria Park, Colombo in 1926-27, losing by an innings. The team's first win came against Patiala at Dhruve Pandove Stadium in 1932-33. The Ceylonese side competed in the M. J. Gopalan Trophy games from the 1950s, through the change of name to Sri Lanka, well into the 1970s.

Test status and beyond

• Gained Test Status in 1981 and first played a Test Match in 1982


• Won the 1996 Cricket World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka & Pakistan


• Semi Finalists in the 2003 Cricket World Cup hosted by South Africa


• Runners up of the 2007 World Cup hosted by the West Indies

Mahela Jayawardene, The Captain

Sri Lanka's performance during the 5-0 whitewash, England's heaviest home defeat in 13 years, was, some sloppy fielding in a couple of games aside, consistently excellent. Sanath Jayasuriya was both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series. They also made the highest score in One Day International Cricket of 443 against The Netherlands in the following series.

Batting records

Matches

• Highest team total - 952/6 against India in 1997.
• Aggregate of runs- Mahela Jayawardene (http://content%20www.cricinfo.com/slc/content/player/49289.html) (7271) in 107 matches at an Average of 51.93
  
• Most number of matches played - Muttiah Muralitharan (118).


• Most number of matches as captain - Arjuna Ranatunga (56) from 1989 to 1999.


• Highest individual score - 374 by Mahela Jayawardene against South Africa in July 2006.


• Highest partnership - 624 for the third wicket by Kumar Sangakkara (287) & Mahela Jayawardene (374) against South Africa in 2006.

ODI Matches

• Highest team total- 443/9 against Netherlands in July 2006.


• Highest aggregate of runs- Sanath Jayasuriya (12,116) in 398 matches at an average of 33.12.


• Most number of matches played - Sanath Jayasuriya (416).


• Most number of matches as captain - Arjuna Ranatunga (193) from 1988 to 1999.


• Highest individual score - 189 by Sanath Jayasuriya against India in October, 2000.


• Highest partnership - 286 for the first wicket by Sanath Jayasuriya (152) & Upul Tharanga (109) against England in July 2006.


• Most number of centuries - Sanath Jayasuriya (27) in 416 matches.
  

Kumar Sangakkara, The Wicket Keeper and The Batsman

Twenty20 Matches

• Highest team total - 260/6 against Kenya on 14th September 2007.

Highest wining margin - 172 runs against Kenya in 14th September 2007.

Bowling records

Test Matches

• Most number of wickets - 746 by Muttiah Muralitharan at 21.77 in 121 matches.


• Best individual bowling - 9-51 by Muttiah Muralitharan against Zimbabwe in January 2002.


• Best bowling in a match - 16-220 by Muttiah Muralitharan against England


• Most number of 5 wicket hauls - Muttiah Muralitharan (62).


• Best average - 18.94 by Ajantha Mendis.


• Most number of wickets taken bowled - Muttiah Muralitharan (157).


• Most number of wickets taken stumped - Muttiah Muralitharan (41).

ODI Matches

• Most number of wickets - 455 by Muttiah Muralitharan at 22.68 in 297 matches.


• Best individual bowling - 8-19 by Chaminda Vaas against Zimbabwe in December 2001.


• Most number of 5 wicket hauls -Muttiah Muralitharan (8).


• Best Average - 10.25 by Ajantha Mendis. (http://content-www.cricinfo.com/slc/content/player/268739.html)

• Only bowler to have taken 8 wickets in a ODI - Chaminda Vaas against Zimbabwe in 2001.

World Cup

Records by Sri Lanka

• Highest team total - 398/5 against Kenya in 1996.

• Highest partnership(runs) - 183 for the third wicket by Sanath Jayasuriya (115) and Mahela Jayawardene (82) against West Indies in 2007.

• - 183 for the third wicket by Asanka Gurusinha (84) and Aravinda de Silva (145) against Kenya in 1996.

• Most number of runs - Sanath Jayasuriya (1165) in 38 matches.

• Highest individual score - Aravinda de Silva (145) against Kenya in 1996.

• First Sri Lankan bowler to take a World Cup Hatrick - Chaminda Vaas against Bangladesh in 2003.

• World's only bowler to have taken a World Cup Hat-trick in the first three balls of a match - Chaminda Vaas against Bangladesh in 2003.