A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the highest T20 standard. The game is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket.[1][2] The first Twenty20 International match between two men's sides was played on 17 February 2005, involving Australia and New Zealand. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack reported that "neither side took the game especially seriously",[3] and it was noted by ESPNcricinfo that but for a large score for Ricky Ponting, "the concept would have shuddered".[4] However, Ponting himself said "if it does become an international game then I'm sure the novelty won't be there all the time".[5]
This is a list of Sri Lanka Cricket team's Twenty20 International records. It is based on the List of Twenty20 International records, but concentrates solely on records dealing with the Sri Lankan cricket team. Sri Lanka played the first ever T20I in 2006.
The top five records are listed for each category, except for the team wins, losses, draws and ties, all round records and the partnership records. Tied records for fifth place are also included. Explanations of the general symbols and cricketing terms used in the list are given below. Specific details are provided in each category where appropriate. All records include matches played for Sri Lanka only, and are correct as of August 2020[update].
Key
Symbol
Meaning
†
Player or umpire is currently active in T20I cricket
As of June 2024[update], Sri Lanka has played 191 T20I matches resulting in 85 victories, 100 defeats, 4 ties and 2 no results for an overall winning percentage of 44.50.[6]
A T20I match is won when one side has scored more runs than the runs scored by the opposing side during their innings. If both sides have completed both their allocated innings and the side that fielded last has the higher aggregate of runs, it is known as a win by runs. This indicates the number of runs that they had scored more than the opposing side. If the side batting last wins the match, it is known as a win by wickets, indicating the number of wickets that were still to fall.[24]
The greatest winning margin by runs in T20Is was Czech Republic's victory over Turkey by 257 runs in the sixth match of the 2019 Continental Cup.[11] The largest victory recorded by Sri Lanka was during the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 by 172 runs against Kenya.[25]
The greatest winning margin by balls remaining in T20Is was Austria's victory over Turkey by 104 balls remaining in the ninth match of the 2019 Continental Cup.[27] The largest victory recorded by Sri Lanka is during the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 against the Netherlands when they won by 9 wickets with 90 balls remaining.[28]
A total of 22 matches have ended with chasing team winning by 10 wickets with New Zealand winning by such margins a record three times.[29] Sri Lanka have won by 9 wickets on four occasions.[26]
Australia holds the record for the highest successful run chase which they achieved when they scored 245/5 in response to New Zealand's 243/6.[30] The highest successful chase for Sri Lanka is 194/4 against Bangladesh during the Sri Lanka's tour of Bangladesh in 2018.[31]
The narrowest run margin victory is by 1 run which has been achieved in 15 T20Is. The narrowest win margin for Sri Lanka is 2 runs achieved three times.[32][33]
The narrowest winning margin by balls remaining in T20Is is by winning of the last ball which has been achieved 26 times. Sri Lanka has achieve victory of the last ball on four occasions.[34]
The narrowest margin of victory by wickets is 1 wicket which has settled four such T20Is. The narrowest victory by wickets for Sri Lanka is two wickets.[35]
The largest defeat suffered by Sri Lanka was against New Zealand in New Zealand during the 2016 T20I Series when they lost by 9 wickets with 60 balls remaining.[28]
A tie can occur when the scores of both teams are equal at the conclusion of play, provided that the side batting last has completed their innings.[24]
There have been 19 ties in T20Is history with Sri Lanka involved in four such games.[6]
A run is the basic means of scoring in cricket. A run is scored when the batsman hits the ball with his bat and with his partner runs the length of 22 yards (20 m) of the pitch.[38]
India's Rohit Sharma has scored the most runs in T20Is with 4,231. Second is Virat Kohli of India with 4,188 ahead of Babar Azam from Pakistan in third with 4,145. Tillakaratne Dilshan is the leading Sri Lankan batsmen on this list.[39]
A half-century is a score of between 50 and 99 runs. Statistically, once a batsman's score reaches 100, it is no longer considered a half-century but a century.
Suryakumar Yadav of India holds the record for highest strike rate, with minimum 250 balls faced qualification, with 179.56.[98]Thisara Perera is the Sri Lankan with the highest strike rate.
Dwayne Smith of West Indies strike rate of 414.28 during his 29 off 7 balls against Bangladesh during 2007 ICC World Twenty20 is the world record for highest strike rate in an innings. Jehan Mubarak with his innings of 46* off 13 balls against Kenya in the same tournament holds the top position for a Sri Lanka player in this list.[100]
Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan holds the record for most runs scored in a calendar year with 1,326 runs scored in 2021. Pathum Nissanka scored 713 runs in 2022, the most for a Sri Lanka batsmen in a year.[102]
A duck refers to a batsman being dismissed without scoring a run.[106]Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka, Pakistan's Umar Akmal and Ireland's Kevin O'Brien has scored the equal highest number of ducks in T20Is with 10 such knocks.[107]
Bowling figures refers to the number of the wickets a bowler has taken and the number of runs conceded.[129]
India's Deepak Chahar holds the world record for best figures in an innings when he took 6/7 against Bangladesh in November 2019 at Nagpur. Ajantha Mendis holds the Sri Lankan record for best bowling figures.[130]
A bowler's bowling average is the total number of runs they have conceded divided by the number of wickets they have taken.
Nepalan's Sandeep Lamichhane holds the record for the best career average in T20Is with 12.56. Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer, is second behind Sandeep with an overall career average of 14.42 runs per wicket.[132]
A bowler's economy rate is the total number of runs they have conceded divided by the number of overs they have bowled.[106]
New Zealand's Daniel Vettori, holds the T20I record for the best career economy rate with 5.70. Mendis, with a rate of 6.45 runs per over conceded over his 39-match T20I career, is the highest Sri Lankan on the list.[134]
A bowler's strike rate is the total number of balls they have bowled divided by the number of wickets they have taken.[106]
The top bowler with the best T20I career strike rate is Rashid Khan of Afghanistan with strike rate of 12.3 balls per wicket. Ajantha Mendis is the Sri Lankan bowler with the lowest strike rate.[136]
Pakistan's Umar Gul, Afghanistan's Rashid Khan & Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan has taken the most four-wickets (or over) among all the bowlers. Mendis has taken the most such hauls among Sri Lankan bowlers.[138]
The best strike rate in an inning, when a minimum of 4 wickets are taken by the player, is by Steve Tikolo of Kenya during his spell of 4/2 in 1.2 overs against Scotland during the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier at ICC Academy, Dubai, UAE. Ajantha Mendis during both six-wicket spells in an inning also recorded the best strike rate for a Sri Lankan bowler.[142]
Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga holds the record for most wickets taken in a year when he took 36 wickets in 2021, 34 wickets in 2022 & 23 wickets in 2024. Dushmantha Chameera with 22 wickets in 2021 and Maheesh Theekshana in 2022 jointly hold the Sri Lankan record for most wickets in a year.[149]
In cricket, a hat-trick occurs when a bowler takes three wickets with consecutive deliveries. The deliveries may be interrupted by an over bowled by another bowler from the other end of the pitch or the other team's innings, but must be three consecutive deliveries by the individual bowler in the same match. Only wickets attributed to the bowler count towards a hat-trick; run outs do not count.
In T20Is history there have been just 13 hat-tricks, the first achieved by Brett Lee for Australia against Bangladesh in 2007 ICC World Twenty20.[153]
The wicket-keeper is a specialist fielder who stands behind the stumps being guarded by the batsman on strike and is the only member of the fielding side allowed to wear gloves and leg pads.[160]
A wicket-keeper can be credited with the dismissal of a batsman in two ways, caught or stumped. A fair catch is taken when the ball is caught fully within the field of play without it bouncing after the ball has touched the striker's bat or glove holding the bat,[161][162] Laws 5.6.2.2 and 5.6.2.3 state that the hand or the glove holding the bat shall be regarded as the ball striking or touching the bat while a stumping occurs when the wicket-keeper puts down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground and not attempting a run.[163]Kumar Sangakkara is the highest ranked Sri Lankan wicket keeper in the all-time list of taking most dismissals in T20Is as a designated wicket-keeper, which is headed by India's MS Dhoni and West Indian Denesh Ramdin.[164]
Sangakkara has made the most stumpings in T20Is as a designated wicket-keeper among Sri Lankan wicket-keepers with Dhoni and Kamran Akmal of Pakistan heading this all-time list.[168]
Four wicket-keepers on four occasions have taken five dismissals in a single innings in a T20I.[170]
The feat of taking 4 dismissals in an innings has been achieved by 19 wicket-keepers on 26 occasions with Dinesh Chandimal being the only Sri Lankan wicket-keeper.[171]
Netherlands wicket-keeper Scott Edwards holds the T20Is record for the most dismissals taken by a wicket-keeper in a series. He made 13 dismissals during the 2019 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. Sri Lankan record is held by Sangakkara when he made 9 dismissals during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.[173]
Caught is one of the nine methods a batsman can be dismissed in cricket.[a] The majority of catches are caught in the slips, located behind the batsman, next to the wicket-keeper, on the off side of the field. Most slip fielders are top order batsmen.[176][177]
South Africa's David Miller holds the record for the most catches in T20Is by a non-wicket-keeper with 62, followed by New Zealand's Martin Guptill with 58 and Shoaib Malik of Pakistan on 50. Thisara Perera is the leading catcher for Sri Lanka.[178]
The feat of taking 4 catches in an innings has been achieved by 14 fielders on 14 occasions with Chandimal being the only Sri Lankan fielder.[180][181]
India's Rohit Sharma holds the record for the most T20I matches played with 148, followed by Shoaib Malik of Pakistan with 124 and Martin Guptil of New Zealand with 122 games. Dasun is the most experienced Sri Lankan player having represented the team on 88 occasions.[186]
Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad and Asghar Afghan hold the record for the most consecutive T20I matches played with 58. Angelo Mathews holds the Sri Lankan record.[188]
MS Dhoni, who led the Indian cricket team from 2007 to 2016, holds the record for the most matches played as captain in T20Is with 72. Dasun Shanaka has led Sri Lanka in 46 matches, the most for any player from his country.[189]
In cricket, two batsmen are always present at the crease batting together in a partnership. This partnership will continue until one of them is dismissed, retires or the innings comes to a close.
A wicket partnership describes the number of runs scored before each wicket falls. The first wicket partnership is between the opening batsmen and continues until the first wicket falls. The second wicket partnership then commences between the not out batsman and the number three batsman. This partnership continues until the second wicket falls. The third wicket partnership then commences between the not out batsman and the new batsman. This continues down to the tenth wicket partnership. When the tenth wicket has fallen, there is no batsman left to partner so the innings is closed.
An asterisk (*) signifies an unbroken partnership (i.e. neither of the batsmen was dismissed before either the end of the allotted overs or the required score being reached). Last updated: 10 November 2024[206]
An umpire in cricket is a person who officiates the match according to the Laws of Cricket. Two umpires adjudicate the match on the field, whilst a third umpire has access to video replays, and a fourth umpire looks after the match balls and other duties. The records below are only for on-field umpires.
Ahsan Raza of Pakistan holds the record for the most T20I matches umpired with 64. The most experienced Sri Lankan umpire is Ruchira Palliyaguruge with 40 matches officiated so far.[207]
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
England
India
Ireland
New Zealand
Pakistan
South Africa
West Indies
Zimbabwe
Canada
Nepal
Kenya
Namibia
Netherlands
United Arab Emirates
Sri Lanka v 
Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
