Sri Lanka Vs India- head-to-head in World Cup (Statistics)

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 comes to end. India and Sri Lanka are reaching for the final as the favourites to win the title.

Let's look, how have these two teams fared against each other at past World Cups?

The first meeting between the sides came in the 1979 edition. Sri Lanka batted first and made 238/5, aided by fifties by Wettimuny, Dias and Mendis. Amarnath, playing as a bowling all-rounder took 3/40. When India batted, Opatha and DS De Silva took three wickets each as India crashed to 191 all out in the 55th over. Vengsarkar with 36 was the highest scorer of the innings.

The two sides did not meet in the 1983 and 1987 editions of the world cup. When they next met in Australia in the 1992 edition, the meeting lasted just two balls before rain caused the match to be abandoned.

Next came the 1996 world cup, hosted in the sub-continent for the second time after 1987. India and Sri Lanka met in a group match in Delhi. Batting first India made a respectable 271/3, on the back of Tendulkar's 137 supported by Azhar who made 72. But India had not reckoned with Jayasuriya, a lower order batsman who had recently been promoted to the opening slot. In the company of the diminutive Kaluwitharana, Jayasuriya made the target look ridiculously small, as Sri Lanka made 42 runs in the first three overs, with Manoj Prabhakar conceding 33 in his two.

The teams met again the the semi-finals at Kolkata. Sri Lanka batted first, and the larger size of the Eden Gardens ground proved to be the undoing of both openers within four balls of Srinath's first over. Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana were caught in the outfield attempting to hoist Srinath for sixes, no doubt trying to recreate the start the Sri Lankans got in the group match against India. Thereafter, it was a repair job, first by Aravinda De Silva, and then by Mahanama which took the team to a respectable 251/8. Chasing under the lights is never easy and it was even more difficult on a wicket that started deteriorating rapidly. After Tendulkar's departure for a careful 65, the Indian team collapsed to 120/8 before crowd disturbance brought a premature end to the clash, with match referee Clive Lloyd awarding the game to Sri Lanka.

The teams met next at the cup, three years later at Taunton in England, and this time, India batted first. after the early loss of opener Ramesh, Ganguly (183) and Dravid (145) subjected the Sri Lankan bowling to a battering that saw 200 runs scored in the last 20 overs. India finished on 373/6, and in reply Sri Lanka finished with a whimper, being skittled out for 216, with Robin Singh taking a five-for.

Then it was at the 2003 world cup in South Africa that the sides met in a Super Sixes match, at Johannesburg. India batted first, and after a 153 opening stand between Tendulkar (97) and Sehwag (66) never looked back; the final score was 292/6. Chasing 293 to win Sri Lanka were bundled out 109, with batsmen failing to score. Nehra and Srinath took four wickets each, while Zaheer accounted for the other two.

The last world cup meeting between the sides transoired at Port of Spain, in 2007, when the Carribeans hosted the event for the first time. Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka made 254/6, a deceptively modest score, considering that on the same ground a few days earlier India had scored just 191 against Bangladesh, a score they failed to defend. The loss to Bangladesh made this group match a must-win for India if they were to progress. Under the circumstances, Sri Lanka's out-cricket was brilliant on a day when nothing went right for India, beginning with the toss. They were bowled out for 185 in the 44th over, with Sehwag (48) and Dravid (60) the only batsmen to put up any semblance of a fight.

Thus Sri Lanka lead India 3-2 in World Cup meetings.

Series	Date	Ground	Countries	Winner
Prudential World Cup 1979	16/06/1979	Old Trafford	IND v SRL	Sri Lanka
Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992	28/02/1992	Harrup Park	IND v SRL	No Result
Wills World Cup 1996	02/03/1996	Feroz Shah Kotla	IND v SRL	Sri Lanka
Wills World Cup 1996 (Semi Final)	13/03/1996	Eden Gardens	IND v SRL	Sri Lanka
ICC World Cup 1999	26/05/1999	Taunton County Grnd	IND v SRL	India
ICC World Cup 2003	10/03/2003	The Wanderers Stad	IND v SRL	India
ICC World Cup 2007	23/03/2007	Queen's Park	IND v SRL	Sri Lanka

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