History of Asian Cricket Teams

#3 Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Cricket

Cricket was introduced in Sri Lanka by the British in 1832. Sri Lanka played its first unofficial First Class match in 1926 but has to wait until 1981 to be granted Test status. They played their first Test against England in 1982 at the P.Sara Oval (PSS) in Colombo and recorded their first Test victory by defeating India at the PSS in 1985. They won their first overseas Test match defeating New Zealand at Napier in 1995.

Sri Lanka Played its first ODI at Old Trafford, Manchester in the 1975 World Cup against eventual champions West Indies. It was at the same ground in the next edition of the World Cup that Sri Lanka won its first limited overs match against India in 1979. They pulled off a stunning victory against favourites Australia in the final of the 1996 World Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and reached another two World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011, losing to Australia and India respectively.

Sri Lanka played its first T20I against England in 2006 at the Rose Bowl and have reached the World T20 Finals thrice, winning once in 2014 against favourites India at Colombo.

Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup five times, all in the 50 overs format, a record it shares with India.

As of the date of writing, Sri Lanka is ranked 6th in Tests, 8th in ODIs and 9th In T20Is.