ENG vs SL: England and Sri Lanka had a rich history in the cricket world. These two teams have produced some of the excellent performances in the past against each other. This rivalry will see a new episode added when these sides will face each other in a three-match Test series.
The series will start on August 21, and three games will take place at Old Trafford, Lord’s, and Kennington Oval, respectively. This series is also part of the World Test Championship, so it is very important for both teams.
These two teams don’t play very often, so every ENG vs SL test or series is very important. In this article, we will talk about the head-to-head record between these two sides in Test cricket and some other records as well.
ENG vs SL: England vs Sri Lanka Head to Head Records in Tests
The ENG vs SL rivalry had their first ever meeting in 1982, when these two teams met for the first time in red-ball cricket in Colombo. Since then, these two have played numerous battles against each other. Overall, these two teams have played 36 Test matches. England are ahead in this race with 17 wins, Sri Lanka have won 8 games, and the remaining 11 games have ended in draws.
| Total Matches | 36 |
| England Won | 17 |
| Sri Lanka Won | 8 |
| No Result | 11 |
| Tie | 0 |
| Highest Total | 628/8d by SL on 18 Dec 2003 |
| Lowest Total | 81 All Out by ENG on 18 Dec 2007 |
| Biggest Win (Runs) | ENG beat Sl by 211 Runs on 6 Nov 2018 |
| Biggest win (Innings) | ENG beat SL by an innings and 215 runs on 18 Dec 2003 |
| Smallest win (runs) | ENG beat SL by 42 Runs on 23 Nov 2018 |
| Smallest win (wickets) | ENG beat SL by 3 Wickets on 7 Mar 2001 |
ENG vs SL: Most Runs
Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene is the only batter who has scored more than 2000 runs in the ENG vs SL rivalry. His countryman, Kumar Sangakkara, is next on the list. There are three Sri Lankans in the top five run-getters in ENG vs SL test history.
| Batter | Span | Mts | Inns | Runs | HS | Avg | 50s/100s |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 1998-2014 | 23 | 41 | 2212 | 213* | 58.21 | 10/8 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 2001-2014 | 22 | 40 | 1568 | 152 | 40.20 | 9/3 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 2006-2016 | 16 | 28 | 1290 | 133 | 53.75 | 7/3 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 2014-2021 | 10 | 18 | 1001 | 228 | 58.88 | 1/4 |
| Angelo Mathews (SL) | 2012-2021 | 12 | 21 | 970 | 160 | 46.19 | 6/3 |
ENG vs SL: Most Wickets
Muttiah Muralidharan is the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket. So, it is not a surprise that he is at the top of this list. Murali has excellent numbers against every team, and he has 116 wickets in just 16 Tests against England. Here are the top five wicket-takers in the ENG vs SL test.
| Bowlers | Span | Wkts | Mts | BBI | Avg | 4fer | 5fer |
| Muttiah Muralidharan (SL) | 1993-2007 | 112 | 16 | 9/65 | 20.06 | 8 | 8 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 2003-2021 | 58 | 14 | 6/40 | 22.18 | 1 | 5 |
| Chaminda Vaas (SL) | 2001-2007 | 49 | 15 | 6/73 | 31.36 | 3 | 1 |
| Rangan Herath (SL) | 2011-2018 | 43 | 11 | 6/74 | 33.27 | 2 | 3 |
| Matthew Hoggard (ENG) | 2002-2007 | 27 | 9 | 6/92 | 29.86 | 2 | 1 |