India vs Sri Lanka Head-to-Head in ODI World Cup

The ODI World Cup matches between India and Sri Lanka have been pretty exciting. The competition has been intense, which is why India and Sri Lanka have a 4-4 head-to-head record in the ODI Cricket World Cup.

This article lists all the encounters between India and Sri Lanka in the prestigious ODI World Cup.

In 9 ODI Cricket World Cup matches between both teams, India has 4 victories and Sri Lanka has 4 victories, while 1 match ended with no result.

India vs Sri Lanka: All Results in ODI World Cup

1979: Manchester

On a cloudy Manchester day, India faced off against their neighbours, Sri Lanka, in a match that was expected to be one-sided — a confrontation between a non-test-playing nation and a team that had troubled even the great West Indies on their day. India lost to Sri Lanka by a comparatively large margin of 47 runs, leaving them winless in the 1979 edition.

1992: Mackay

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl at Mackay. Kris Srikkanth faced two balls, scoring a single run, before rain intervened. After a helicopter was deployed to dry off the pitch, it began to rain again. As a result, the game ended with no result.

1996: Delhi

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first on a sluggish Kotla surface. Manoj Prabhakar’s initial knock of 7 off 36 was unusual, but Sachin Tendulkar, his fellow opener, made up for it with a run-a-ball 137, stitching together a stabilising 66-run partnership with Sanjay Manjrekar.

India eventually posted an impressive 271/3 for Sri Lanka to chase. Hashan Tillakaratne and Arjuna Ranatunga put on a 131-run stand to propel Sri Lanka from 141/4 to a 6-wicket triumph with 8 balls to spare.

1996: Kolkata

Despite the presence of Kaluwitharana and Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka was expected to be a walk in the park. The entire country believed it was India’s destiny — until a few hooligans brought the dream crashing down.

Everything was going swimmingly until Tendulkar was stumped down the leg side by Jayasuriya, with the score at 98/1. The dressing room, the Kolkata crowd, and the entire country watched in disbelief as India’s batting line-up disintegrated, losing 7 wickets for 22 runs.

One of the worst incidents in cricket history occurred in Eden Gardens, Kolkata, when self-declared fans went rogue and threw bottles and set the seats on fire, permanently marring their heritage. The match referee, Clive Llyod, was compelled to award the match to Sri Lanka as they advanced to the World Cup final, which they would later win.

1999: Taunton

After three years of hostility, India and Sri Lanka were poised to meet again in Taunton, more than thousands of miles from Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly (183) and Rahul Dravid (145) put up 318 runs in 45 overs, the highest partnership for India in the 50-over tournament, smashing 34 fours and eight sixes in a display of remarkable strokeplay. India scored a massive 373/6 on the board.

Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana were out early thanks to an LBW and a run-out by Javagal Srinath. It resulted in India winning by 157 runs.

2003: Johannesburg

With a tumultuous World Cup history behind them, India and Sri Lanka faced off in a Super Six match in Johannesburg, where Sri Lanka won the toss and instantly elected to bowl first to extract early seam action from the wicket. After 50 overs, India posted a competitive score of 292/6. Sri Lanka lost by 183 runs after being at 2/1, 2/2, 3/3, and then 15/4, and despite some resistance from Sangakkara (30) and the final batting duo, India cruised into the knockouts.

2007: Port of Spain

The runners-up in the 2003 World Cup were having a terrible time off the pitch in the 2007 edition. Sri Lanka scored 254 runs in 50 overs, and in response, India was all out in 43 overs for 185 runs, allowing Sri Lanka to win by 69 runs.

2011: Mumbai

15 years after their worst nightmare in Kolkata, India faced the same opposition in the final of another home World Cup, this time in front of a thunderous (but better-behaved) crowd at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Thisara Perera added the finishing touches with a 9-ball 22 to end with a staggering 274 on the board. 

The Indian chase got off to a bad start when Virender Sehwag, the ultimate crowd-pleaser, left in the opening over for a duck. Yuvraj joined Dhoni at the crease with 52 runs to go and smashed a towering six over long-on to seal the victory, sending the Wankhede, and by extension, the entire country, into ecstasy and bringing the World Cup back to India for the first time in 28 years.

2019: Leeds

Batting first, Sri Lanka scored 264/7, thanks to Angelo Mathews’ 113 runs. However, Sri Lanka suffered another defeat as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul bagged plenty to help India reach the target of 265 in the 44th over with 7 wickets to spare.