Pakistan v Sri Lanka: 10 statistical behemoths that stand out

On Jun 14, 1975, Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced each other for the very first time in an ODI fixture. Over the 45 years since, the two teams have squared off 153 times in total, with Pakistan winning 90 and Sri Lanka 58.

Before the two teams renew their friendly rivalry at the National Stadium Karachi today, we recap the batsmen, the bowlers, and anyone else that has stood out from both the nations over the years.

1- Most matches and runs

The player who has appeared in the most Pak-Sri Lanka fixtures is Sanath Jayasuriya. The former Sri Lankan all-rounder faced Pakistan 82 times and was always a menacing presence, just ask Aamer Sohail.

As expected, Jayasuriya tops this scoring chart too as he has 2,517 ODI runs to his name against Pakistan.

2- Highest individual score

The accolade for highest individual score in a Pak-Sri Lanka ODI match belongs to Mohammad Hafeez. His unbeaten 140 in Sharjah in 2013 earning him the honours.

3- Highest batting average

The great Javed Miandad was a nuisance for Sri Lanka. He would refuse to throw his wicket away and remained unbeaten in 10 of his 31 ODI innings against the islanders. Resultantly, he has an average of a staggering 54.33 runs against this particular opposition.

4- Best strike rate (batting)

Who else can it be than Shahid Afridi? Boom Boom launched his storied career with a then world record 37-ball 100 against the Lankans. It’s only fair then that he sits atop this list. Afridi’s career strike rate is 117.00 but against the Lankans he always was in even more hurry — signified by his filtered S/R of 120.23.

5- Most centuries

The silky smooth Saeed Anwar was a lean mean run-making machine against Sri Lanka all through the 90s. Of his 20 ODI centuries, seven came against the islanders. No one has scored more tons in this fixture.

6- Most wickets

This one is a close affair between two of the all-time greats of their own respective trades: Muttiah Muralitharan and Wasim Akram. The former edges it with his haul of 96 wickets just four better than the latter’s.

7- Best bowling average

No one comes close to Wasim Akram’s bowling average of 20.96. The great Sultan terrorised the Lankans his entire career, which reflects in his stingy ratio of runs he gave for each of his 92 scalps.

8- Most catches

Roshan Mahanama had the safest pair of hands when it came to Pak-Sri Lanka ODI fixtures. A total of 62 Pakistani batsmen lost their wickets, having been caught in the outfield by this fella.

9- Most dismissals by a wicketkeeper

Against Pakistan, Kumar Sangakkara has 62 dismissals to his name, with it being a 55-7 split between catches and stumpings respectively. No one else has more.

10- Most ducks

Muralitharan was almost always deadly against tail-enders but when the roles were reversed and he walked in clutching the bat, he almost always was a dead man walking too. 

The off-spin maestro was out nine times on a duck by Pakistani bowlers. At a mere 5.79 runs per innings, his batting average against Pakistan barely qualifies being called an average.