Sri Lanka vs South Africa was supposed to be the biggest clash of the T20 World Cup so far. A team with mystery spinners and slingly pacers going against big hitters and fearless pacers. You would expect a nail-biting finish, much like Namibia vs Oman. Instead, we saw Wanindu Hasaranga’s side succumb to just 77 runs, their lowest-ever total in T20I cricket.
Four of their batters, including skipper Hasaranga and Sadeera Samarawickrama, scored ducks. Kusal Mendis ended up as their high run-scorer (19), as only three of their batters recorded a double-digit score. However, the worst stat that came out of their thrashing at the hands of Protean bowlers was the fact that none of their batters had a strike rate of over 100.
Sri Lanka’s lowest ever T20I total
Naturally, this is also Sri Lanka’s lowest T20 World Cup score as well. They had managed to put just 87 runs on the board against Australia at the 2010 T20 World Cup, and for 14 years, that had been their worst batting performance at the mega-event. But this humiliation from Aiden Markram and co. has definitely surpassed the Bridgetown embarrassment.
| Score | Overs | RR | Opponent | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | 19.1 | 4.01 | South Africa | New York | 3 Jun 2024 |
| 82 | 18.0 | 4.55 | India | Visakhapatnam | 14 Feb 2016 |
| 87 | 16.2 | 5.32 | Australia | Bridgetown | 9 May 2010 |
| 87 | 16.0 | 5.43 | India | Cuttack | 20 Dec 2017 |
| 91 | 18.5 | 4.83 | England | Southampton | 26 Jun 2021 |
