Team history at Cricket World Cup - Sri Lanka (1975-2011)

Arjuna Ranatunga lifts the World Cup trophy

Sri Lanka are indisputably the most outlandish side in cricket World Cups, for no other side has ever managed to win a World Cup after having been an associate nation previously. Sri Lanka were a cricketing minnow for 4 World Cups. They were no dark horses even when they played the 1996 World Cup, a tournament that they eventually won. But ever since the 1996 fairytale, the emerald isle have been the second most consistent team at the World Cup.

Sri Lanka made their ODI debut in 1975, playing the invincible West Indians in their first match. As expected, their first outing was underwhelming. The Lankan contingent managed only 86 runs in their first international match. The poignant tale continued for the remainder of the tournament as Lanka returned home, winless.

The island known for its gems, showed a scintilla of amelioration in 1979, beating their neighbours India to record their first ODI victory ever. India would also become a victim of Sri Lanka’s first Test victory, 6 years later. Despite that victory against India, Sri Lanka once again returned home after the initial round.

In 1983, Sri Lanka managed to beat New Zealand and the 1987 World Cup – the first World Cup to be played outside England – saw Sri Lanka comprehensively beaten. In 1992, however, Sri Lanka eked out two wins, the highest the island had produced till then.

Having won just 4 matches in their first 5 World Cups, Sri Lanka began their 1996 campaign with people thinking that they'd only make up the numbers.

A bomb blast in the capital city had deterred the Australian and the West Indies teams to pull out from Sri Lanka, helping the co-hosts enter the knock-outs for the first time, even before a single ball was bowled.

Luck did favour them, but it would be preposterous to say that it helped them win the title. In the 2003 World Cup, Kenya and Zimbabwe managed to enter the Super Six, thanks to some forfeits from visiting teams but that didn’t help them win the tournament.

Arjuna Ranatunga, cricket’s version of Kautiliya, melded experience with youthfulness, aggression with stability, and mavericks with conformism. Sri Lanka choked oppositions with spin and punctured them with wonton savages.

The island nation propounded a new brand of cricket, that would re-write cricket’s destiny. The 1996 World Cup was one of its kind. The islanders walked in furtively, conquered the world and swaggered back home with the trophy as the whole world gaped at the impossible becoming a possibility.

The 1999 World Cup was a melodramatic story. In 2003, Sri Lanka’s journey ended in the semi-finals. Sri Lanka ended up being bridesmaids in 2007 and 2011.

History at the World Cup

Sri Lanka have played a total number of 66 matches in World Cups, out of which they have won 31 and lost 32. It is apposite to split Sri Lanka’s renditions into two; before 1996 and after 1996.

Since 1996, Sri Lanka have been the most consistent team after Australia, winning 27 of their 41 games accounting for a win-loss ratio of 2.250.

Overall Record

Team Span Mat Won Lost Tied NR W/L
Sri Lanka 1975-2011 66 31 32 1 2 0.968

Record since 1996

Team Span Mat Won Lost Tied NR W/L
Sri Lanka 1996-2011 41 27 12 1 1 2.250

Trophies Won

The 1996 Wills spoils is the only World Cup trophy residing in Sri Lanka’s trophy cabinet.

Clouds of controversy loomed over the first World Cup to be played in Sri Lanka as the Tamil insurgents bombed the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo. Although, ICC declared Sri Lanka safe, West Indies and Australia refused to play in the country. While West Indies’s fear was genuine, Australia had a political ploy surrounding that decision. After negotiations, ICC decided to award both games to Sri Lanka on forfeit. Thus, the second youngest Test nation then, proceeded to its first knockout stage, even before the World Cup had began.

Arjuna Ranatunga devised a canny, astute scheme to catalyse Sri Lanka’s triumph. The men in blue and yellow had the most experienced lineup on paper as Arjuna successfully executed the plan of opening with two pinch-hitters.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana were to bash balls without scruple. Asanka Gurusinha at number 3 would anchor the innings. Aravinda de Silva was the main batsman and it was the responsibility of the middle-order to bat around him. Ranatunga was at five and would make sure the rate of scoring would not slump with his deft shots and risk-free run scoring.

If wickets tumbled and the going got tough, then Roshan Mahanama and Hashan Tillakaratne would get going from numbers 6 and 7. Chaminda Vaas at number eight would give the upswing required at the end.

At the other end of the pitch, with the ball in hand, Sri Lanka employed Vaas and Pramodaya Wickramasinghe to utilise the new ball. Kumar Dharmasena and Muttiah Muralitharan would bowl their off breaks. In addition, Arjuna cleverly used de Silva, Jayasuriya and himself in choking down oppositions with deceptive slow bowling.

Sri Lanka advanced to the quarterfinals unbeaten, with the most important victory coming against India at Delhi. It was in this game that Sanath Jayasuriya paraded his pinch-hitting style to the world, hitting Manoj Prabhakar out of cricket and coaxing him into early retirement. The victory against India made the team believe that they could go all the way.

The left-handed marauder once again smashed Sri Lanka into the semifinals, helping the team thrash England in the first quarterfinals.

In the semi-finals, the island nation won the match through default, when the fanatic fans from Kolkata set the stadium on fire. In the final, the fairy tale reached the crux with the pearl from the Indian ocean humbling the mighty Australians.

Favourite opposition

Sri Lanka have never lost to Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the World Cup. The only time they lost to an associate nation was when they lost to Kenya in 2003. Apart from the lesser strong teams, Sri Lanka’s favourite World Cup foe happens to be New Zealand. They have played 9 games against the Kiwis, winning 6 and losing 3. The Lankans have also beaten them in the semi-finals of two consecutive World Cups (2007 and 2011).

India are Sri Lanka’s second favourite adversary. Sri Lanka have lost thrice to India while winning four times with one game producing no-result.

Pakistan remain Sri Lanka’s migraine in World Cups. They have played 7 games against Pakistan, losing all seven.

Team

Span

Mat

Won

Lost

Tied

NR

W/L

v New Zealand

1979-2011

9

6

3

0

0

2.000

v India

1979-2011

8

4

3

0

1

1.333

v England

1983-2011

9

3

6

0

0

0.500

v South Africa

1992-2007

4

1

2

1

0

0.500

v West Indies

1975-2007

6

2

4

0

0

0.500

v Australia

1975-2011

8

1

6

0

1

0.166

v Pakistan

1975-2011

7

0

7

0

0

0.000

Best Captain

Sri Lanka have had eight captains leading them at World Cups, with Arjuna Ranatunga, Anura Tennekoon and Duleep Mendis being the only skippers leading the team more than once at cricket's biggest carnival.

Considering the number of matches won, Ranatunga and Jayawardene have been the best captains, both winning 8 matches each. But Kumar Sangakkara has the best win/loss ratio of the three, losing only two matches.

Captain

Teams

Span

Mat

Won

Lost

Tied

NR

W/L

B Warnapura

1

1979-1979

1

1

0

0

0

-

KC Sangakkara

1

2011-2011

9

6

2

0

1

3.000

DPMD Jayawardene

1

2007-2007

11

8

3

0

0

2.666

A Ranatunga

1

1996-1999

11

8

3

0

0

2.666

ST Jayasuriya

1

2003-2003

10

5

4

1

0

1.250

PA de Silva

1

1992-1992

8

2

5

0

1

0.400

LRD Mendis

1

1983-1987

12

1

11

0

0

0.090

APB Tennekoon

1

1975-1979

4

0

4

0

0

0.000

Worst Tournament

Sri Lanka made it a habit to evict themselves out of the tournament in the first leg itself prior to their glory in 1996. Hence, I consider only the tournaments that succeeded the 1996 World Cup.

Sri Lanka’s worst performance came in the 1999 World Cup that immediately followed the victorious campaign in 1996. But since 1999, the men in blue and yellow have never failed to reach the semi-finals in any of the World Cups.

Any promise Sri Lanka garnered from fans world over pummelled down after the underwhelming performance in 1999. Sri Lanka were knocked out in the first round, with victories coming against only Zimbabwe and Kenya.

The use of Duke balls duped the Lankan players and made life difficult for them with prodigious swing.

Best batsman

Having played in 5 World Cups, Sanath Jayasuriya is the leading run-scorer for Sri Lanka at the world event. The Matara-mauler scored 1165 runs with 3 centuries at a strike-rate of 90.66.

Jayasuriya is closely followed by the Mad Max who has 1064 runs. Sangakkara has the highest runs among active cricketers with 991 runs.

Player

Span

Mat

Inns

Runs

HS

Ave

SR

100

50

ST Jayasuriya

1992-2007

38

37

1165

120

34.26

90.66

3

6

PA de Silva

1987-2003

35

32

1064

145

36.68

86.57

2

6

KC Sangakkara

2003-2011

30

28

991

111

45.04

78.71

1

7

DPMD Jayawardene

1999-2011

33

29

975

115*

37.50

87.67

3

5

A Ranatunga

1983-1999

30

29

969

88*

46.14

80.95

0

7

TM Dilshan

2007-2011

20

18

717

144

47.80

91.10

2

3

WU Tharanga

2007-2011

20

20

693

133

38.50

75.49

2

4

RS Mahanama

1987-1999

25

21

596

89

33.11

56.54

0

5

MS Atapattu

1999-2003

15

15

521

124

43.41

79.29

2

3

AP Gurusinha

1987-1996

18

17

488

87

28.70

61.85

0

3

On the basis of batting average, Dilshan tops the list with an average of 47.80.

Player

Span

Mat

Inns

Runs

HS

Ave

SR

100

50

TM Dilshan

2007-2011

20

18

717

144

47.80

91.10

2

3

A Ranatunga

1983-1999

30

29

969

88*

46.14

80.95

0

7

KC Sangakkara

2003-2011

30

28

991

111

45.04

78.71

1

7

MS Atapattu

1999-2003

15

15

521

124

43.41

79.29

2

3

WU Tharanga

2007-2011

20

20

693

133

38.50

75.49

2

4

DPMD Jayawardene

1999-2011

33

29

975

115*

37.50

87.67

3

5

PA de Silva

1987-2003

35

32

1064

145

36.68

86.57

2

6

LPC Silva

2007-2011

18

14

427

64

35.58

75.97

0

5

RL Dias

1979-1987

10

10

310

80

34.44

57.72

0

3

ST Jayasuriya

1992-2007

38

37

1165

120

34.26

90.66

3

6

Best bowlers

Muralitharan has picked up more wickets than any Sri Lankan player in World Cups. With a tally of 68 wickets, no Sri Lankan has a chance to beat his record in the near future. Vaas succeeds him with 49 wickets.

Player

Span

Mat

Inns

Runs

Wkts

BBI

Ave

Econ

SR

M Muralitharan

1996-2011

40

39

1335

68

4/19

19.63

3.88

30.3

WPUJC Vaas

1996-2007

31

31

1040

49

6/25

21.22

3.97

32.0

SL Malinga

2007-2011

15

14

554

31

6/38

17.87

5.17

20.7

ST Jayasuriya

1992-2007

38

31

1060

27

3/12

39.25

4.83

48.7

ALF de Mel

1983-1987

9

9

449

18

5/32

24.94

4.97

30.1

PA de Silva

1987-2003

35

22

671

16

3/42

41.93

4.97

50.6

GP Wickramasinghe

1992-1999

17

16

625

16

3/30

39.06

4.58

51.0

TM Dilshan

2007-2011

20

16

284

13

4/4

21.84

4.18

31.3

CRD Fernando

2003-2007

16

16

546

13

3/41

42.00

5.66

44.4

RJ Ratnayake

1983-1987

9

9

437

12

2/18

36.41

4.91

44.5

Malinga tops the list of best bowling averages. He averages 17.87 runs per wicket followed by Murali who averages 19.63.

Player

Span

Mat

Inns

Runs

Wkts

BBI

Ave

Econ

SR

SL Malinga

2007-2011

15

14

554

31

6/38

17.87

5.17

20.7

M Muralitharan

1996-2011

40

39

1335

68

4/19

19.63

3.88

30.3

WPUJC Vaas

1996-2007

31

31

1040

49

6/25

21.22

3.97

32.0

TM Dilshan

2007-2011

20

16

284

13

4/4

21.84

4.18

31.3

RP Arnold

2003-2007

21

9

178

6

3/47

29.66

5.28

33.6

GP Wickramasinghe

1992-1999

17

16

625

16

3/30

39.06

4.58

51.0

ST Jayasuriya

1992-2007

38

31

1060

27

3/12

39.25

4.83

48.7

PA de Silva

1987-2003

35

22

671

16

3/42

41.93

4.97

50.6

CRD Fernando

2003-2007

16

16

546

13

3/41

42.00

5.66

44.4

AP Gurusinha

1987-1996

18

9

307

7

2/67

43.85

5.79

45.4

Memorable matches

Sri Lanka vs India, Manchester, 1979

The fixture against India at Old Trafford is forever etched in the island’s history as the country’s first-ever victory at the world stage came to pass there. The islanders humbled the Indian lineup swanking of Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath and Bishan Bedi by 47 runs.

India won the toss and sent Sri Lanka into bat. Thanks to half-centuries from Sunil Wettimuny, Duleep Mendis and Roy Dias, Sri Lanka ended up scoring 238.

Batting second, India managed only 191 runs, losing all 10 wickets. Medium-pacer Tony Opatha and ace leg spinner DS de Silva picked up three wickets each, derailing the Indian innings.

Sri Lanka vs India, Kolkata, 1996

Sri Lanka were pitted against India in the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup. Toss was to be a crucial factor in deciding the fate of the game, with teams having to deal with the dilemma of choosing between dew and a crumbling surface.

Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and elected to bowl first. Arjuna Ranatunga, later admitted that it was the best toss he had lost.

Indian cricket fans riot after their team slumped to 120/8

Sri Lankans, batting first, lost both their trump cards in the very first over. With the thorn in the flesh for most bowlers back in the dug-out, everyone anticipated a dramatic collapse that would draw the curtains on Sri Lanka’s fairytale. But de Silva had other ideas. He single-handedly rewrote the script of the game and hauled his team back from the dead.

If rebuilding – at 1/2 in the first over – means consolidating, building partnerships and avoiding further bloodshed, Aravinda travelled the wrong way, attacking bowlers, taking undue risks and savaging balls to all parts and salvaged the sinking ship. When the Mad Max misread a googly from Kumble and heard his death rattle, he had already scored 64 runs off 47 balls. The gritty Sri Lankan middle-order propped Aravinda’s spectacle with hefty contributions. Sri Lanka ended up with 251 which was well above par, provided that they kept the little master Sachin Tendulkar in check.

Sri Lanka’s nightmare materialised and the Indian batting maestro took the Sri Lankan bowling apart on a crumbling turf. At one stage, India were cruising having scored 98 for the loss of just one wicket.

Ranatunga called on Jayasuriya to bowl his slow left-arm spin. The southpaw came over the wicket and tried to hit the footmarks to extract some invariable bounce. Tendulkar, who remained unflustered, tried to flick a ball that spun into him. He missed the flick, the ball ricocheted off his thigh into the ground and bounced into Kaluwitharana’s gloves. Sachin thought he had it fine and attempted a run, Kaluwitharana showed little hesitance and whipped the bails off in a flash.

That was the break the Lankans needed as the spinners spun yarns around the Indian batting lineup. When India were 120-8, the Bengal crowd lost their cool and set the stadium on fire. The match referee awarded the match to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka vs Australia, Lahore, 1996

Lahore, on the 17th of March, 1996, saw an emergence of an unfancied team. From nowhere, Sri Lanka came forth as the winners of the Wills World Cup.

Australia marched into the final after beating West Indies in the semi-finals. Sri Lanka were soaring with confidence after beating India at home. Ranatunga, for a change, kicked off the mind games prior to the game branding Shane Warne as an average bowler and the Waugh brothers as being overrated.

When the expert critics believed in batting first and putting up a heavy score on the board, the Lankan captain as he had done throughout the tournament resisted conventions and elected to bowl first.

The Lankans kept the Aussies to 241 with Aravinda being the wrecker-in-chief. Chasing 241 for glory, Jayasuriya and Kalu departed early. But Aravinda combined with Gurusinghe to form an impenetrable partnership that helped the island nation sail towards safety. Arjuna with his unbeaten 47 made sure that pressure didn’t affect the run chase. Sri Lanka romped home with 7 wickets and 22 balls remaining.

Sri Lanka vs South Africa, Durban, 2003

Cricket is a game of numbers and that was further emphasised by South Africa’s exit from the tournament in 2003.

Batting first, Sri Lanka scored 268. In reply, the Proteas were 223 for 6 as the clouds started drooling down. The D/L par score at the end of the over read 229. Mark Boucher advanced down the track against Muralitharan and deposited the penultimate ball into the stands.

Boucher pumped his fist in the air as if South Africa had won. The next ball was blocked as the covers were brought in to shield the turf from the pouring heavens. Boucher was unaware of the fact that the D/L par score would only allow them to tie the match and they needed one more for victory.

The rain in the rainbow nation refused to cease and the hosts were knocked out in a dramatic fashion.

Sri Lanka vs England, Antigua, 2007

The 33rd match in the 2007 World Cup turned out to be a nail-biter as Sri Lanka edged England by 2 runs.

Winning the toss, England put Sri Lanka into bat and the Lankans limped to 235. Chasing 236, England found themselves 6 down for 133. But Ravi Bopara, together with Paul Nixon, staged a spunky rear guard taking England to 220 for 7.

Needing 12 runs off the last over, Bopara paddle swept Dilhara Fernando for four from the second ball and snatched a couple off the next. The equation came down to three off the last. Dilhara Fernando, a bowler who is infamous for his untimely no balls, bowled a quick back of a length delivery that disturbed the woodwork, disappointing the English legion that had gathered to watch the match.

Sri Lanka vs South Africa, Guyana, 2007

If late hour twists are exclusive for cinemas, cricket proved it wrong when Sri Lanka almost won a game that was bordering on a South African victory.

Batting first, the Lankans were bundled out for 209. Chasing 210, South Africa were 5 down for 206 with just 4 runs needed for a win.

Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka slung a slow yorker at Pollock, who was bemused and was clean bowled. The wicket didn’t alarm anyone. The very next ball, Andrew Hall lobbed a yorker up in the air into the hands of the cover fielder. The Lankans smiled at the piece of consolations they were garnering when defeat was lurking behind them.

That was the over and Vaas bowled the next over, giving away only 1 run. Malinga returned with Kallis on strike. Sri Lankans were not hoping for a victory which was unlikely at that time, but they did hope that Malinga would get a hat-trick.

The Galle-born pacer ran up and slung a full-length ball at Kallis who edged it behind. Malinga had a hat-trick, and South Africa’s chokers tag was slowly starting to appear again. The next ball rattled Ntini’s stumps and Malinga seemed like he could no wrong.

South Africa needed 3 to win and Sri Lanka needed one more wicket. Malinga’s yorkers kept on eluding the stumps and Robin Peterson finally edged a ball for four, bringing a lot of relief to the South African camp. Malinga’s four in four added spark to an otherwise dying match.

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