South Africa vs Sri Lanka ODIs: A rivalry dominated by home teams

After trouncing South Africa 2-0 in the Test series, Sri Lanka gets ready for the five-day one-day international (ODI) series against the Proteas starting Sunday, July 29. The Islanders will be led by all-rounder Angelo Mathews while the visitors will play under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis.

The five games will be played in Dambulla (two games), Kandy (two games) and Colombo (one game).

We take a look back here at all bilateral series Sri Lanka and South Africa have played so far since 1993 when the first series between them was held.

Sri Lanka has played South Africa 66 times in ODIs with the former winning 29 times and the latter 35 times while one game ended in a tie and another ending without a conclusion.

Here are the last few times both sides have faced each other

Sri Lanka drew South Africa 1-1(3) in Sri Lanka, 1993: After the first-ever match in a bilateral series between the two sides got washed out halfway, the Proteas thrashed the Lankans by 124 runs in the second match in Colombo to take a 1-0 lead. The home side then drew level in the third game, winning it by 44 runs. Arjuna Ranatunga was the captain of the Sri Lankan side while Kepler Wessels led the South Africans.

South Africa beat Sri Lanka 5-1(6) in South Africa, 2000-01: The next ODI series between the emerald islanders and Proteas took place after seven years and this time, the Africans pulverized the Asians 5-1 in a six-match series. Led by Shaun Pollock, the Proteas won the first five games – by 4 wickets (Port Elizabeth); 95 runs (East London); 8 wickets (Paarl); 99 runs (Cape Town) and 5 wickets (Bloemfontein) before the visitors won the final game in Johannesburg by 4 runs by Duckworth-Lewis method. Sri Lanka was led by Sanath Jayasuriya in this series. South African Jacques Kallis was adjudged the man of the series.

South Africa beat Sri Lanka 4-1(5) in South Africa, 2002-03: In another disastrous tour of South Africa, the Lankans lost the ODI series 1-4. Shaun Pollock and Sanath Jayasuriya were the captains of the South African and Sri Lankan sides, respectively, for this series as well. Sri Lanka pulled one back by winning the third ODI in Benoni by 7 wickets but South Africa won the final two games in Kimberley (by 8 wickets) and Bloemfontein (by 6 wickets) to make it 4-1. They won the first two matches in Johannesburg by 6 wickets and Centurion by 177 runs. Jacques Kallis was the man of the series once again for hitting three half-centuries.

Sri Lanka beat South Africa 5-0(5) in Sri Lanka, 2004: Led by Marvan Atapattu (three matches) and Mahela Jayawardena (two matches), Sri Lanka took a perfect revenge of the past two series by humiliating Graeme Smith’s South Africa 5-0 in as many games. The Islanders won by 3 wickets (Colombo); 37 runs (Colombo); 4 wickets (Dambulla); 7 wickets (Dambulla) and 49 runs (Colombo). Kumar Sangakkara was picked as the man of the series for scoring three fifties.

South Africa beat Sri Lanka 3-2(5) in South Africa, 2011-12: Sri Lanka were thumped by 258 runs in the first ODI of the series played at Paarl and it looked Tillakaratne Dilshan’s side will see yet another massive loss in the five-match series. However, the Sri Lankans did not give up their fight even after losing the series in the first three games and won the final two matches to make it 3-2. South Africa won the second game by 5 wickets at East London and the third game by 4 runs at Bloemfontein (Duckworth-Lewis method) while the Lankans won at Kimberley by 5 wickets and at Johannesburg by 2 wickets. AB de Villiers, who made his debut as the captain of South Africa in the ODIs in this series, was adjudged the man of the series for scoring 329 runs.

Sri Lanka beat South Africa 4-1(5) in Sri Lanka, 2013: led partially by Dinesh Chandimal (first two matches) and Angelo Mathews (last three matches), Sri Lanka pummelled the Proteas 4-1 in yet another emphatic home series win – the hallmark of bilateral series between these two sides. The Lankans started with a bang by winning the first game at Colombo by 180 runs. They then won against at Colombo by 17 runs (Duckworth-Lewis method) before the visitors made it 2-1 at Pallekele by winning by 56 runs. Sri Lanka won the series by winning the next game at Pallekele by 8 wickets and rubbed salt to the injury by thrashing the Proteas in the final game at Colombo by 128 runs. Kumar Sangakkara did a Kallis by winning his second consecutive man of the series award in a bilateral ODI series against South Africa for hitting one hundred (169) and two fifties.

South Africa beat Sri Lanka 2-1(3) in Sri Lanka, 2014: This is the only time that a team won an away bilateral series between South Africa and Sri Lanka. Captained by AB de Villiers, the South Africans won the first match at Colombo by 75 runs before Angelo Mathews’s Sri Lanka made it 1-1 at Pallekele, winning the game by 87 runs. But a couple of centuries from de Villiers and Quinton Kock in the decider at Hambantota saw the visitors winning by 82 runs and pocket the series 2-1. South Africa’s Hashim Amla was picked the man of the series for slamming two tons.

South Africa beat Sri Lanka 5-0(5) in South Africa, 2017: The Proteas bulldozed a hapless Sri Lanka in a five-match ODI series at home they played in 2017. AB de Villiers’s South African side produced a superior performance in the series both with the bat and the ball, thumping the visitors by 8 wickets (Port Elizabeth); 121 runs (Durban); 7 wickets (Johannesburg); 40 runs (Cape Town) and 88 runs (Centurion). Upul Tharanga was the captain of the Sri Lankan side in this series. Faf du Plessis was picked as the man of the series.

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