Sri Lanka in World Cup: Underdogs till 1992; Completely transformed side after 1996

The 12th edition of the World Cup will begin on May 30 with the match between hosts England and South Africa. The one-and-half month tournament will feature 10 teams and the final will be played at the Lord’s on July 14. All teams will be playing against each other with the top four point-getters qualifying for the semi-finals. Australia are the current world champions while England are hosting the tournament on their soil for a record fifth time.

Sri Lanka, the champions of the 1996 edition, will start as one of the underdogs this time because of their ordinary run in the 50-over format. Currently ranked eighth in the ICC ODI rankings, Sri Lanka were not a force to reckon till the 1996 WC when they made their first semi-finals and went on to win the tournament.

Overall, the Islanders have played 76 matches in the WC, winning 37, losing 35, tying one while three ended without result. Only four of Sri Lanka’s 37 World Cup victories came between 1975 and 1992 while they reigned supreme in 33 encounters between 1996 and 2015.

On the other hand, while Lankans lost 20 of their 35 matches in the WC in the first five editions, they lost only 15 in the next six. Besides winning the title in 1996, Sri Lanka made the finals in the 2007 and 2011 editions but lost to Australia and India, respectively.

Here, we take a look at the history of Sri Lanka’s record in the quadrennial tournament:

World Cup 1975; failed to proceed beyond the group stage:

Sri Lanka were in Group B of the first World Cup with the West Indies, Australia and Pakistan. Led by the batsman and left-arm spinner Anura Tennekoon, they were all out for 86 against the Windies in their first match (it was also their first-ever ODI game) and lost by 9 wickets. They came up with a much-improved show against the Australians in the second game, losing by 52 runs while chasing 329. Sri Lanka were hammered by Pakistan by 192 runs in their final group game as they folded for 138 against Pakistan’s total of 330 for six.

World Cup 1979; failed to proceed beyond the group stage:

The Sri Lankans did not play a single game since their three defeats in the 1975 WC and played their fourth game only in the next WC. Led by Tennekoon again in the first match (it was his final international game), Lankans lost to New Zealand by 9 wickets after scoring 190. The next game against the Windies was washed out in rain and Sri Lanka got their first-ever points in the WC. However, they tasted their first-ever win in the very next game when they stunned India by 47 runs to finish third in the group. Batsman Bandula Warnapura was the skipper of Sri Lanka in this match.

World Cup 1983; failed to proceed beyond the group stage:

Captained by Duleep Mendis, Sri Lanka were clubbed with hosts England, Pakistan and New Zealand in the third edition of the WC. They went down fighting against Pakistan in the opening game against Pakistan, losing by 50 runs while chasing 339. Two days after that, they gave another brave chase to England’s 333 but lost by 47 runs.

Sri Lanka then lost to New Zealand by 5 wickets and to Pakistan narrowly – by 11 runs. The Asians eventually won a game and it was against the Kiwis who they beat by 3 wickets. However, they were thumped by England by 9 wickets in their final group encounter and ended up with just one win in six games.

World Cup 1987; failed to proceed beyond group stage:

Led by Mendis again, the Islanders had a forgettable WC in 1987 even though it was played in the subcontinent. They were clubbed with co-hosts Pakistan, England and the West Indies and failed to win a single game. They started with a 15-run loss against Pakistan and could never get going. Sri Lanka lost to the West Indies by 191 runs; to England by 108 runs; to the West Indies by 25 runs; to Pakistan by 113 runs and to England by 8 wickets.

World Cup 1992; failed to proceed beyond league stage:

Sri Lanka were led by Aravinda de Silva in the 1992 edition played in Australia and New Zealand and like the last four tournaments, they failed to make the semi-finals this time as well. Sri Lanka started well with a three-wicket win over Zimbabwe chasing a 300-plus score. But they could win only one of their remaining seven games, finishing eighth among nine teams.

They lost to New Zealand by 6 wickets; beat South Africa by 3 wickets; lost to Australia by 7 wickets; lost to England by 106 runs; lost to the West Indies by 91 runs and lost to Pakistan by 4 wickets. Their match against India was cancelled due to rain.

World Cup 1996; Champions:

Sri Lanka made a massive stride in the 1996 edition when they made the semi-finals for the first time and went on to win the title. Arjuna Ranatunga’s side was in prime touch around that time and in the WC that followed in the sub-continent, the Lankans did not drop a single game. In the group stage, the Islanders received walkovers from Australia and the West Indies as they refused to play on their soil because of security reasons.

In the other games, Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe and India by 6 wickets and Kenya by 144 runs to reach the quarter-finals. They beat England by 5 wickets in the knockout game and then trounced India in the semi-finals. The match was heavily tilted in their favour when an angry crowd at the Eden Gardens did not allow it to proceed after India’s poor batting performance. Sri Lanka then beat Australia by 7 wickets in the final to win a WC final first time as a host country.

World Cup 1999; failed to proceed beyond the group stage:

The defending champions were clubbed with hosts England, South Africa, India, Kenya and Zimbabwe in Group A. Ranatunga’s side started with an 8-wicket loss to England and were crushed by South Africa by 89 runs in the second game. They pulled one back with a four-wicket win over Zimbabwe but were hammered by India by 157 runs in the next game. Sri Lanka ended their disappointing campaign with a 45-run win over Kenya to finish fifth in the group of six.

World Cup 2003; lost to Australia in semi-finals:

Sanath Jayasuriya was in charge of Sri Lanka in this edition played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya and they did well in the group stage to finish as the topper. They beat New Zealand by 47 runs in the first game and followed it up with a 10-wicket thrashing of Bangladesh. They then defeated Canada by 9 wickets but were shocked by Kenya against the run of play.

Sri Lanka next beat the West Indies narrowly by 6 runs and ended their campaign with a tie against SA in a rain-curtailed match. In the Super Six stage, the Lankans lost to Australia by 96 runs and to India by 183 runs before defeating Zimbabwe by 74 runs to make the semi-finals as the fourth team. They faced eventual champions Australia in the semi-final and lost the game by 48 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method.

World Cup 2007; lost to Australia in final:

Mahela Jayawardene’s side was in great form in this edition of the World Cup played in the West Indies. They were clubbed with Bangladesh, India and Bermuda in Group B and won all the three games. They thrashed debutants Bermuda by 243 runs and then hammered Bangladesh by 198 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method and then beat India by 69 runs to knock them out of the tournament.

In the Super Eight stage, the Lankans started with a 1-wicket loss to South Africa in a thriller in which Lasith Malinga took a hat-trick. Sri Lanka then thumped hosts Windies by 113 runs and England by just 2 runs. The Asians then went past New Zealand by 6 wickets and Ireland in the final match by 8 wickets but lost to Australia by 7 wickets in between. In the semi-finals, skipper Jayawardene’s century gave Sri Lanka a win by 81 runs but they finished second best to Australia in the final, losing in a rain-hit final by 53 runs.

World Cup 2011; lost to India in final:

Kumar Sangakkara was in charge of Sri Lanka in this WC played in the sub-continent but he, too, failed to cross the final hurdle. The Lankans played the group games in their country and won four out of six matches while lost one with the other one being inconclusive. They started off with a bang by beating Canada by 210 runs but lost to Pakistan by 11 runs in the next game.

They were back on track soon by crushing Kenya by 9 wickets, Zimbabwe by 139 runs and New Zealand by 112 runs. Their game with Australia was cancelled because of rain after little over 32 overs of play. Sri Lanka then blew away England by 10 wickets in the quarter-finals, repeating the 1996 history and then defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets in the semi-final yet again to make their second successive World Cup final. They scored a competitive total of 274 in the final against India but it was the day of MS Dhoni who finished off the game with a six.

World Cup 2015; lost to South Africa in quarter-finals:

Angelo Mathews-led Sri Lanka this time and although they started with a 98-run loss to New Zealand, they beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets; Bangladesh by 92 runs and England by 9 wickets. Sri Lanka went down fighting against Australia, losing by 64 runs while chasing 377, before winding up their group stage with a 148-run win over Scotland. Kumar Sangakkara was in the form of his life in this WC, scoring four hundreds but Sri Lanka’s journey in the tournament was restricted by South Africa who bowled them out for just 133 in the quarter-finals and won the game by 9 wickets.

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from World Cup,  Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.