Sri Lanka vs South Africa Head to Head

South Africa and Sri Lanka once dominated the cricket world. However, these days, both nations are struggling in all formats of the game. In the ICC tournaments played in the 1990s and the 2000s, cricket experts would pick Sri Lanka and South Africa among the favorites.

Unfortunately, now very few expect them to even make it to the semifinals. Both teams will face off in an ICC Cricket World Cup Super League series in Sri Lanka from September 2 to 7. The 3-match ODI series will be followed by a 3-match T20I series. The T20Is will help both squads finalize their combinations before the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. On that note, let’s have a look at the head-to-head record between the two teams.

Table of Contents

1. SL vs SA Head to Head Stats
2. SL vs SA Head to Head Stats - Tests
3. SL vs SA Head to Head Stats - ODIs
4. SL vs SA Head to Head Stats - T20Is

SL vs SA Head to Head Stats

The South African cricket team has dominated Sri Lanka in all formats of the game. The Proteas lead the head-to-head record against Sri Lanka in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. While the lead is considerable in Tests and ODIs, the head-to-head record in T20 internationals is very close.

Format	Test	ODI	T20I
Matches Played	25	80	17
Sri Lanka Won	9	33	5
South Africa Won	16	45	11
Sri Lanka Win %	36%	41.25%	31.25%
South Africa Win %	64%	56.25%	68.75%

SL vs SA Head to Head Stats - Tests

South Africa and Sri Lanka competed in a Test match for the first time back in 1993. The Proteas did not allow the islanders to record a single win in their first five Test matches. Sri Lanka’s record improved gradually, but they have not been able to record more wins than South Africa.

Matches Played	25
Sri Lanka Won	9
South Africa Won	16
Tied	0
Drawn	0
Sri Lanka Win %	36%
South Africa Win %	64%
Draw %	0%
First Played On	August 1993
Last Played On	January 2021

SL vs SA Head to Head Stats - ODIs

Unlike Test cricket, South Africa lost their first ODI match against Sri Lanka. There was a time when the islanders dominated South Africa in the 50-over format, but the Proteas have won 18 of their last 20 ODI matches against Sri Lanka and taken a big lead in the head-to-head record.

Matches Played	80
Sri Lanka Won	33
South Africa Won	45
Tied	1
No Result	1
Sri Lanka Win %	41.25%
South Africa Win %	56.25%
First Played On	March 1992
Last Played On	September 2021

SL vs SA Head to Head Stats - T20Is

Sri Lanka and South Africa did not play a single T20I against each other before the ICC T20 World Cup 2012. Since then, they have competed in the shortest format of the game regularly, and the Proteas have a winning head-to-head record in the T20I format as well.

Matches Played	17
South Africa Won	11
Sri Lanka Won	5
Tied	0
No Result	0
Sri Lanka Win %	64.70%
South Africa Win %	29.41%
First Played On	September 2012
Last Played On	September 2021