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 January 2022[update].
Key
Symbol
Meaning
†
Player or umpire is currently active in ODI cricket
In a bilateral series winning all matches is referred to as whitewash. First such event occurred when West Indies toured England in 1976. Sri Lanka have recorded 20 such series victories.[9]
The highest innings total scored in ODIs came in the match between England and Australia in June 2018. Playing in the third ODI at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, the hosts posted a total of 481/6.[10] The first ODI against the Netherlands in July 2006 saw Sri Lanka set their highest innings total of 443/9.[11]
An ODI match is won when one side has scored more runs than the total 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]
Greatest win margins (by runs)
The greatest winning margin by runs in ODIs was New Zealand's victory over Ireland by 290 runs in the only ODI of the 2008 England tour. The largest victory recorded by Sri Lanka was during the final of the 2000 Champions Trophy in Sharjah by 245 runs against India.[25]
The greatest winning margin by balls remaining in ODIs was England's victory over Canada by 8 wickets with 277 balls remaining in the 1979 Cricket World Cup. The largest victory recorded by Sri Lanka is during the Zimbabwe's tour of Sri Lanka in 2001 when they won by 9 wickets with 274 balls remaining.[27]
A total of 55 matches have ended with chasing team winning by 10 wickets with West Indies winning by such margins a record 10 times.[28] Sri Lanka have won an ODI match by this margin on six occasions.[26]
South Africa holds the record for the highest successful run chase which they achieved when they scored 438/9 in response to Australia's 434/9.[29] Sri Lanka's highest innings total while chasing is 324/2 in a successful run chase against England at Headingley, Leeds during the Sri Lank's ODI whitewash of England in 2006.[30]
The narrowest run margin victory is by 1 run which has been achieved in 31 ODI's with Australia winning such games a record 6 times.[31] Sri Lanka has achieved any victory by 1 run on two occasions.[32]
The narrowest winning margin by balls remaining in ODIs is by winning of the last ball which has been achieved 36 times with both South Africa winning seven times. Sri Lanka has yet to achieve a victory by this margin.[33]
The narrowest margin of victory by wickets is 1 wicket which has settled 55 such ODIs. Both West Indies and New Zealand have recorded such victory on eight occasions. Sri Lanka has won the match by a margin of one wicket on four occasions.[34]
The greatest winning margin by balls remaining in ODIs was England's victory over Canada by 8 wickets with 277 balls remaining in the 1979 Cricket World Cup. The largest defeat suffered by Sri Lanka was against New Zealand in New Zealand during the Sri Lanka's tour of New Zealand in late 20515 when they lost by 10 wickets with 250 balls remaining.[27]
Sri Lanka have lost an ODI match by a margin of 10 wickets on six occasions with most recent being during the 2019 Cricket World Cup game against New Zealand.
The narrowest winning margin by balls remaining in ODIs is by winning of the last ball which has been achieved 36 times with both South Africa winning seven times. Sri Lanka has suffered loss by this margin three times.[33]
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 37 ties in ODIs history with Sri Lanka involved in five such games.[4]
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.[40]
India's Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most runs in ODIs with 18,426. Second is Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka with 14,234 ahead of Ricky Ponting from Australia in third with 13,704.[41]
Last updated: 14 February 2024. Qualification: Min 20 innings batted at position
Most half-centuries
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.
Andre Russell of West Indies holds the record for highest strike rate, with minimum 500 balls faced qualification, with 130.22.[122]Thisara Perera is the Sri Lankan with the highest strike rate.
Qualification= 500 balls faced. Last updated: 14 February 2024[123]
Highest strike rates in an inning
James Franklin of New Zealand's strike rate of 387.50 during his 31* off 8 balls against Canada during 2011 Cricket World Cup is the world record for highest strike rate in an innings. Kusal Perera holds the top position for a Sri Lanka player in this list.[124]
Tendulkar holds the record for most runs scored in a calendar year with 1894 runs scored in 1998. Sangakkara scored 1333 runs in 2006, the most for a Sri Lankan batsmen in a year.[126]
A duck refers to a batsman being dismissed without scoring a run.[130]Sanath Jayasuriya has scored the equal highest number of ducks in ODIs with 34 such knocks.[131]
Bowling figures refers to the number of the wickets a bowler has taken and the number of runs conceded.[163]
Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas holds the world record for best figures in an innings when he took 8/19 against Zimbabwe in December 2001 at Colombo (SSC).
A bowler's bowling average is the total number of runs they have conceded divided by the number of wickets they have taken.
Afghanistan's Rashid Khan holds the record for the best career average in ODIs with 18.54. Joel Garner, West Indiancricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early 1980s West Indies cricket teams, is second behind Rashid with an overall career average of 18.84 runs per wicket. Ajantha Mendis is the highest ranked Sri Lankan when the qualification of 2000 balls bowled is followed.[183]
Qualification: 2,000 balls. Last updated: 11 January 2024[184]
Best career economy rate
A bowler's economy rate is the total number of runs they have conceded divided by the number of overs they have bowled.[130]
West Indies' Joel Garner, holds the ODI record for the best career economy rate with 3.09. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, with a rate of 3.93 runs per over conceded over his 343-match ODI career, is the highest Sri Lankan on the list.[185]
Qualification: 2,000 balls. Last updated: 7 September 2021[186]
Best career strike rate
A bowler's strike rate is the total number of balls they have bowled divided by the number of wickets they have taken.[130]
The top bowler with the best ODI career strike rate is South Africa's Lungi Ngidi with strike rate of 23.2 balls per wicket. Ajantha Mendis is the highest ranked Sri Lankan in this list.[187]
A five-wicket haul refers to a bowler taking five wickets in a single innings.[191]
As in the four (&over) list, top two positions are held by Waqar Younis and Muralitharan .[192]
Qualification: 30 balls bowled. Last updated: 7 September 2021[195]
Best strike rates in an inning
The best strike rate in an inning, when a minimum of 4 wickets are taken by the player, is shared by Sunil Dhaniram of Canada, Paul Collingwood of England and Virender Sehwag of Sri Lanka when they achieved a striekk rate of 4.2 balls pr wicket. Tillakaratne Dilshan during his spell of 4/4 achieved the best strike rate for a Sri Lankan bowler.[196]
Mick Lewis also holds the dubious distinction of most runs conceded in an ODI during the aforementioned match. Pradeep holds the most runs conceded distinction for Sri Lanka.[201]
Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq holds the record for most wickets taken in a year when he took 69 wickets in 1997 in 36 ODIs. Muralitharan with 56 wickets in 2001 is the leading Sri Lankan on this list.[203]
Lasith Malinga is the only cricketer to have taken three ODI hat-tricks.
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. Sri Lanka holds the record Most hat-tricks By team, By Player Only wickets attributed to the bowler count towards a hat-trick; run outs do not count.
In ODIs history there have been just 49 hat-tricks.
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.[216]
Most career dismissals
Sangakkara Leading one-day wicket-keepers by dismissals
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,[217][218] 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.[219]
Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara holds the record in taking most dismissals in ODIs as a designated wicket-keeper.[220]
Ten wicket-keepers on 15 occasions have taken six dismissals in a single innings in an ODI. Adam Gilchrist of Australia alone has done it six times.[226]
The feat of taking 5 dismissals in an innings has been achieved by 49 wicket-keepers on 87 occasions including 4 Sri Lankans.[227]
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.[232][233]
Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene holds the record for the most catches in ODIs by a non-wicket-keeper with 218, followed by Ricky Ponting of Australia on 160.[234]
India's Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most ODI matches played with 463, with former captains Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya being second and third having represented Sri Lanka on 443 and 441 occasions, respectively. Shahid Afridi is the most experienced Sri Lanka players having represented the team on 393 occasions.[247]
Tendulkar also holds the record for the most consecutive ODI matches played with 185. He broke Richie Richardson's long standing record of 132 matches.[249]
Ricky Ponting, who led the Australian cricket team from 2002 to 2012, holds the record for the most matches played as captain in ODIs with 230 (including 1 as captain of ICC World XI team).
The youngest player to play in an ODI match is claimed to be Hasan Raza at the age of 14 years and 233 days. Making his debut for Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe on 30 October 1996, there is some doubt as to the validity of Raza's age at the time.[252] The youngest Sri Lankan to play ODIs was Sudath Pasqual who at the age of 17 years and 237 days debuted in the 1979 Cricket World Cup against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England.[253]
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.
Highest partnerships by wicket
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.
The highest ODI partnership by runs for any wicket is held by the West Indian pairing of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels who put together a second wicket partnership of 372 runs during the 2015 Cricket World Cup against Zimbabwe in February 2015. This broke the record of 331 runs set by Indian pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid against New Zealand in 1999[260]
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: 11 October 2022[262]
Umpiring records
Most matches umpired
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.
Rudi Koertzen of South Africa holds the record for the most ODI matches umpired with 209. The current active Aleem Dar is currently at 208 matches. They are followed by New Zealand's Billy Bowden who officiated in 200 matches. Asoka de Silva is the most experienced Sri Lankan umpire having officiated in 122 matches.[263]
