One of the oldest nations to play cricket, South Africa, and one of the newer nations, Sri Lanka, have a long and one-sided cricket rivalry. Having first played in 1992, the two teams have played 129 matches against each other in all three formats.
The record in all formats is skewed towards South Africa. Having gotten their Test status in 1982 (SL) and 1889 (SA), the Proteas led the Lankans 31-16. In white ball, South Africa have a 46-33 head to head record in ODIs and 12-5 in T20Is.
South Africa also leads Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cups. In the ODI World Cup, the Proteas lead the rivalry 5-1 and 3-1 in the T20 World Cup.
SA vs SL head to head record:
| Format | Matches | South Africa | Sri Lanka | Tie | Draw | No Result |
| ODI | 81 | 46 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| T20I | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Test | 31 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 129 | 74 | 47 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
