2024 became a busy year for Sri Lanka Cricket. In all the 3 formats, the Sri Lanka Men’s team played a total of 50 International matches during the year. Out of these 50, 31 clashes took place here in Sri Lanka, where the Lions found a majority of the success. When it comes to the Women’s Cricket team, the historical Asia Cup triumph will be a moment to remember for the ages. So let’s dig deep into how the national teams fared in each format, and which players had a year to remember donning the national jersey.
Men’s National Team
The year started with the arrival of Zimbabwe for a white ball tour. 3 ODI matches and 3 T20I matches took place, where the hosts reigned supreme, winning the ODI series 2-0 and the T20I series 2-1. Then came the Afghans for a full tour, as the two teams played a test encounter for the first time in history. The test match was an easy hurdle for the much experienced Lankan outfit, and even the white ball encounters were won by Sri Lanka rather comfortably (ODI Series 3-0 & T20I Series 2-1). The first away tour for Sri Lanka during the year was to Bangladesh. With all the formats taking place, it’s fair to say Sri Lanka walked out with more success during this away assignment, winning the Test Series 2-0 and the T20I Series 2-1, while the hosts won the ODI Series 2-1.
After three very decent outings against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh & Afghanistan the next challenge for Sri Lanka was the ICC T20 World Cup in USA & West Indies. Sri Lanka were placed in the group of death alongside South Africa, Bangladesh, Netherlands & Nepal. On paper, although Sri Lanka looked like the side to go through alongside South Africa, the tournament became a disaster for Sri Lanka. The American surfaces didn’t give the Sri Lankan batters any chance to settle, and from the first game, they were under the pump. South Africa bowled out Sri Lanka for just 77 runs and then Bangladesh restricted Sri Lanka to 124, which they chased down with 1 over to spare. The game against Nepal was called off due to persistent rain and Sri Lanka had to settle with a consolation win against Netherlands to end the tournament. This went down as Sri Lanka’s worst T20 World Cup campaign, alongside the global tournament which took place in 2016.
After the World Cup debacle, everyone asked for a lot of changes, and the changes did arrive as the Captain Wanindu Hasaranga and Head Coach Chris Silverwood all resigned. Charith Asalanka was named the new white ball skipper for Sri Lanka, while the legendary Sanath Jayasuriya was named interim head and then later ranked up as the official Head Coach.
The first assignment for the new Captain & Coach duo of Asalanka & Jayasuriya, was against familiar regional foes in India. Over the past few years they had a dominant track record against Sri Lanka and adding to that the horror shows during the Asia Cup final and the World Cup fixture last year made this an interesting tour. During the T20I series, Sri Lanka were whitewashed as the visitors made short work of the home team, and even when Sri Lanka had the chance to win the dead rubber clash, some poor batting cost the game for the islanders. After the T20I series disappointment, a lot of people were expecting the ODI series to have the same sort of result, and that’s when the magic happened for Sri Lanka. The first game ended as a tie out of nowhere and then Sri Lanka won the remaining 2 games to register a historical ODI series win against India for the first time in 27 years. This series win gave Sri Lanka a lot of confidence as it started a winning streak which extended to home series wins against West Indies & New Zealand both in the ODI format. Sri Lanka won and drew the T20I series respectively against the same oppositions.
In Test Cricket, the next assignment after the Bangladesh series was in England. Although Sri Lanka lost the series, they did manage to win the dead rubber encounter to register a test win against England in England after a decade. Sri Lanka made short of New Zealand at home winning the test series 2-0 which injected a lot of hope when it came to qualifying for the World Test Championship. However, the red ball tour to the rainbow nation unfortunately proved to be a bit too much for Sri Lanka as they were bundled out below 50 for the first time in history and then went on to lose the series 2-0. Lastly, Sri Lanka toured New Zealand to end the year and in the 2 T20I games that took place, Sri Lanka struggled big time to win the crunch moments and lost the series with a game to go.
- Kamindu Mendis nominated for ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of The Year
- A missed opportunity
- Fixtures announced for SLC Major Clubs 3-Day Tournament 2024/25
- Sri Lanka stumble after century stand, NZ take 1-0 lead
- Jacob Duffy’s 4-fer seals series for New Zealand
So, the Men’s team has played 7 test matches altogether away from home and won 3 this year. However, in the white ball formats, the record is lackluster, with just 4 wins in 11 games, but at home the white ball record is 19 wins in 29 games, which is phenomenal. The stated records show the clear difference while playing at home and away from home for Sri Lanka.
Women’s National Team
2024 will go down as a year that revolutionised Sri Lankan Women’s Cricket. To start the year, in March, Sri Lanka defeated South Africa away from home in the T20I series 2-1, and then drew the ODI series 1-1. To follow that up, Sri Lanka won the World T20 qualifiers convincingly by winning 6 games in a row. Sri Lanka then faced West Indies at home and whitewashed them in the ODI series, but lost the T20I series 2-1.
The biggest accolade in Sri Lankan Women’s Cricket history was won by the ladies, led by Chamari Athapaththu in July when they won the Asia Cup for the first time ever, beating hot favorites India in a final to remember. How Sri Lanka fought until the last moment and ended the tournament as unbeaten champions is an effort that the streets will remember for a very long time. With the Asia Cup triumph, Sri Lanka went into the Women’s T20 World Cup with high hopes, but unfortunately the occasion got the better of them as the ladies ended the tournament without a single victory. However, they ended the year on a high by cementing their spot as an automatic qualifier for the upcoming Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025.
Sri Lanka A & Under 19 Teams
At the Under 19 World Cup which took place in South Africa, Sri Lanka were only able to win only 2 out of the 5 games and the two wins came against Namibia & Zimbabwe as the Lion Cubs lost to all the 3 top sides they faced at the global tournament. At the end of the year, the Sri Lanka Under 19 team competed at the Youth Asia Cup and lost in the Semi Final stage against India. The Sri Lanka A Team competed at the Emerging Teams Asia Cup this year but unfortunately fell short at the final hurdle losing against Afghanistan. Sri Lanka A faced Afghanistan A before the tournament in a 5 match One Day Series and clinched the series 3-2, and won the only Four Day clash comfortably. However the best result for Sri Lanka A came when they toured South Africa and won both the One Day Series and Test Series 2-1 & 2-0 respectively.
Hong Kong Sixes 2024
Hong Kong sixes made a grand return after 7 years and Sri Lanka emerged victorious to win the title for the 2nd time in history. Captained by Lahiru Madushanka, Sri Lanka faced Bangladesh and Oman in the group stage and got through them easily. Sri Lanka’s next challenge was against Nepal in the Quarter Final, and even then they registered a comfortable victory. The Semi Final clash against Bangladesh was a close one, but the boys managed to beat them for the 2nd time in the tournament and qualify for the Finals. In the Finals, Sri Lanka took on Pakistan who were the favourites, but completely blew them away to win the championship. Tharindu Ratnayake ended up winning the Most Valuable Player Award for Sri Lanka.
LPL & Lanka T10 Super League
The fifth edition of the Lanka Premier League took place this year and Jaffna Kings reigned supreme as the Jaffna franchise clinched their 4th title, beating Galle Marvels in the Final. The Lanka T10 Super League took place for the first time and Hambantota Bangla Tigers became the inaugural champions beating Jaffna Titans.
Top Individual Performances
Pathum Nissanka becoming Sri Lanka’s first ever Double Centurion in the ODI Format
On the 09th of February, Pathum Nissanka struck a phenomenal 210 against Afghanistan on his way to become Sri Lanka’s first ever double centurion in the 50 over format.
Nuwan Thushara’s Hat Trick in a T20I against Bangladesh
Nuwan Thushara picked up his first 5 wicket haul in the T20I format, which included a hat trick on the 09th of March against Bangladesh.
Chamari Athapaththu almost scores a double ton in 50 over cricket
Sri Lanka Women’s Team registered their highest successful chase in ODI Cricket on the 17th of April against South Africa as they chased down 302, and skipper Chamari Athapaththu scored an unbeaten 195 as she missed out on a well-deserved double century.
Kamindu Mendis ties Sir Don Bradman
Kamindu Mendis brought up 1000 Test Runs in just 13 innings on the 27th of September and equalled Sir Don Bradman to become the joint 2nd fastest to achieve 1000 test runs in the history of the game.
Prabath Jayasuriya the 2nd fastest to 100 Test Wickets
Sri Lanka’s ace left arm spinner in Test Cricket clinched 100 test wickets on the 28th of November, and became the joint 2nd fastest in the history of the game to reach the milestone.
