Test cricket is the oldest form of cricket played at international level. A Test match takes place over a period of five days, and is played by teams representing Full Member nations of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Sri Lanka obtained Full Member status of the ICC in 1981, becoming the eighth nation eligible to play Test cricket. The Sri Lanka national cricket team played their first Test match on 17 February 1982, against England, and recorded their first victory on 6 September 1985, in a match against India. Since then, they have played nearly 300 matches, against every other Test-playing nation. Sri Lanka holds the world record for the highest team score, which was established against India in 1997. The highest partnership in Test cricket was also established by two Sri Lankan batsmen; Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Sri Lankan players also hold the highest partnership scores for the second and third wickets.
Top order batter and former captain Kumar Sangakkara holds several Sri Lankan batting records as he has scored the most runs for Sri Lanka in Test cricket. He is also the record holder for the highest number of centuries as well as the highest number of half-centuries. The 374 made by Mahela Jayawardene against South Africa in 2006 is the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan cricketer, surpassing the previous best of 340 by Sanath Jayasuriya, which was established in 1997. It is also the fourth-highest individual score in Test cricket. Jayawardene, Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara are the only Sri Lankan players who have scored triple centuries.
Muttiah Muralitharan, who was hailed by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002 as the "best bowler ever" in Test cricket, dominates the bowling records for Sri Lanka. He is the world record holder for the highest number of wickets, the most five wickets per innings, as well as the most ten wickets per match. Muralitharan also holds the records for the best bowling average, best figures in an innings, best figures in a match, and best figures in a series. He missed an opportunity to capture all ten wickets in an innings in 2002 against Zimbabwe, when Chaminda Vaas took the last wicket after Muralitharan had taken the previous nine. The Sri Lankan team won an ODI series against Australia in Australia in 2010. However, they are yet to register a Test match win and an ODI series win against India in India, as of 2017.
Sri Lanka holds a unique record of having the most Test wickets by both a right arm and left arm bowler:: Muralitharan with 800 wickets and Rangana Herath with 433 wickets.
Key The top five records are listed for each category, except for the team wins, losses, draws and ties 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 . + Key Symbol Meaning Player or umpire is currently active in Test cricket * Player remained not out or partnership remained unbroken ♠ Test cricket record d Innings was declared (e.g. 8/758d) Date Starting date of the Test match Innings Number of innings played Matches Number of matches played Opposition The team India was playing against Period The time period when the player was active in Test cricket Player The player involved in the record Venue Test cricket ground where the match was played
Team records
Record versus other nations OpponentMatchesWonLostDrawTied% WonFirstLast 20242024 19832025 20012025 19822024 19822026 20232023 19832024 19822023 19932024 19932026 19942020Total33110712995032.3219822026
First Test series wins
Opponent Year of first Home win Year of first Away win 2024 YTP 1999 — 2002 2006 1993 1998 1985 — 2023 YTP 1992 1995 2009 1995 2004 2019 2001 — 1996 1999 Last updated: 23 September 2024
First Test match wins
Opponent Home Away Year Venue Year Venue 2024 Colombo (SSC) YTP YTP 1999 Kandy — — 2002 Colombo (PSS) 2006 Chittagong 1993 Colombo (SSC) 1998 The Oval 1985 Colombo (PSS) — — 2023 Galle YTP YTP 1992 Colombo (SSC) 1995 Napier 1985 Colombo (CCC) 1995 Faisalabad 2000 Galle 2011 Durban 2001 Galle 2008 Georgetown 1996 Colombo (RPS) 1999 Harare Last updated: 23 September 2024
Team scoring records
Most runs in an innings
Rank Score Opposition Venue Date 1 952–6d ♠ R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo 2 760–7d Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad 3 756–5d Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo 4 730–6d Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka 5 713–3d Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo 713–9d ZAC Stadium, Chittagong Last updated: 23 September 2024
Highest successful run chases Rank Score Target Opposition Venue Date 1 388 R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 2 352 Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 3 326 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka 4 304 Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa 5 268 Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka Last updated: 23 September 2024
Fewest runs in an innings Rank Score Opposition Venue Date1 42 Kingsmead, Durban 271 Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy 3 73 4 81 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo 582 Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Last updated: 1 December 2024
Most runs conceded in an innings
Rank Score Opposition Venue Date 1 National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan 2 Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, India 3 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka 4 Green Park Stadium, Kanpur, India 5 Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand Last updated: 23 September 2024
Fewest runs conceded in an innings
Rank Score Opposition Venue Date 1 62 Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 2 73 Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka 3 79 4 81 5 86 R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka Last updated: 23 September 2024
Result records A Test match is won when one side has scored more runs than the total runs scored by the opposing side during their two 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 one side scores more runs in a single innings than the total runs scored by the other side in both their innings, it is known as a win by innings and runs. 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.
Greatest win margins (by innings) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date1Innings and 280 runsGalle International Stadium, Galle18 April 20232 Innings and 254 runs Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo 3 Innings and 248 runs Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka 4 Innings and 240 runs Harare Sports Club, Harare 5 Innings and 239 runs Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Last updated: 23 September 2024
Greatest win margins (by runs) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 465 runs Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong 2 328 runs Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Sylhet 3 315 runs Galle International Stadium, Galle 4 313 runs Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo 5 288 runs Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Last updated: 23 September 2024
Greatest win margins (by 10 wickets) Rank Number of Victories Opposition Most Recent Venue Date 1 2 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka Harare Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe 4 1 The Oval, London, England Shaheed Chandu Stadium, Bogra, Bangladesh Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka Last updated: 23 September 2024
Narrowest win margins (by runs) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 21 runs Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi 2 42 runs Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad 3 50 runs Galle International Stadium, Galle 4 57 runs Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar 5 63 runs Galle International Stadium, Galle Last updated: 23 September 2024
Narrowest win margins (by wickets) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 1 wicket Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban 3 2 wickets Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi 4 5 wickets Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Last updated: 23 September 2024
Greatest loss margins (by innings) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 Innings and 242 runs Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka 2 Innings and 239 runs Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, India 3 Innings and 229 runs Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa 4 Innings and 222 runs Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, India Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka Last updated: 1 February 2025
Greatest loss margins (by runs) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 423 runs Hagley Oval, Christchurch, New Zealand 2 366 runs Manuka Oval, Canberra, Australia 3 304 runs Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka 4 301 runs Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 5 282 runs Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa Last updated: 23 September 2024
Greatest loss margins (by 10 wickets)
Rank Number of Defeats Opposition Most Recent Venue Date 1 2 Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 3 1 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia Old Trafford, Manchester, England Last updated: 23 September 2024
Narrowest loss margins (by runs) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka 2 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka 3 Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka 4 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka 5 Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka Last updated: 23 September 2024
Narrowest loss margins (by wickets)
Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date1 2 wicket Hagley Oval, Christchurch, New Zealand 2 3 wicket Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Pakistan Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa 5 4 wicket Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka Last updated: 23 September 2024
Batting records
Most career runs Kumar Sangakkara is the fifth-highest scoring batsman in Test cricket.
Rank Runs Player Matches Innings Period 1 12,400 134 233 2000–2015 2 11,814 149 252 1997–2014 3 8,214 Angelo Mathews 119 212 2009–2025 4 7,222 Dimuth Karunaratne 100 191 2012–2025 5 6,973 Sanath Jayasuriya 110 188 1991–2007 6 6,530 Dinesh Chandimal† 93 165 2011–2026 7 6,361 Aravinda de Silva 93 159 1984–2002 8 5,502 Marvan Atapattu 90 156 1990–2007 9 5,492 Tillakaratne Dilshan 87 145 1999–2013 10 5,462 Thilan Samaraweera 81 132 2001–2013 Last updated: 15 August 2026
Fastest runs getter
RunsBatsmanMatchInningsRecord DateReference100081326 September 20242000294620 June 20033000426516 May 20024000579124 March 200450006410615 December 200660007111618 December 200770008313820 July 2009800091 ♠152 ♠3 August 20109000103 ♠172 ♠3 November 201110000115195 ♠26 December 201211000122 ♠208 ♠4 February 201412000130 ♠224 ♠3 January 2015 Last updated: 23 September 2024
Most runs in each batting position Batting positionBatsmanInningsRunsAverageTest Career SpanRef OpenerDimuth Karunaratne 186 7,129 39.82 2012–2025 Number 3Kumar Sangakkara 207 11,679 60.83 2000–2015 Number 4Mahela Jayawardene 195 9,509 52.25 1997–2014 Number 5Thilan Samaraweera 93 3,903 47.60 2001–2013 Number 6Hashan Tillakaratne 58 2,843 47.38 1989–2004 Number 7Prasanna Jayawardene 62 1,661 30.20 2000–2015 Number 8Chaminda Vaas 98 1,913 25.17 1994–2009 Number 9Rangana Herath 78 900 13.84 1999-2018 Number 10Suranga Lakmal 45 415 12.58 2010–2020 Number 11Muttiah Muralitharan 96 621 11.33 1992–2010 Last updated: 15 August 2026
Most runs against each team