England vs Sri Lanka T20 head to head looks at the historical record of these 2 international teams in the shortest format of the game including number of wins, highest and lowest scores in matches involving both and the top player achievements in T20 fixtures between England and Sri Lanka.
In the early years of T20 cricket it would be fair to say that Sri Lanka had the upper hand in the head to head stats and were something of a bogey team for England winning 4 out of the first 6 matches played between the 2 sides including 3 games in a row in England. However, more recently and particularly since England’s change in fortunes in white-ball cricket that followed their disastrous 50 over World Cup in 2015, it has been England that has dominated fixtures between the 2 nations with comfortable wins in some of their most recent matches against Sri Lanka.
England can also point to their superior head to head record over Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup matches having won 4 out of the 5 fixtures to have taken place at the ICC tournament in the past.
The island nation of Sri Lanka revolutionised limited overs cricket in winning the 1996 World Cup but in recent years on and off the field problems have seen them fail to produce the calibre of player to emulate those achievements from the past. Their poor showing in the recently completed 3 match series in England is evidence of how far the present crop of players has fallen since those glory days.
England vs Sri Lanka T20 head to head player records
Access full T20 head to head player stats on our pages below
England vs Sri Lanka T20 head to head record
| England Wins | Sri Lanka Wins | No result / tie |
| 9 | 4 | 0 |
England vs Sri Lanka T20 head to head record by match location
| Location of match | England Wins | Sri Lanka Wins | No result / tie |
| in England | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| in Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| in the Caribbean | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| in India | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| in Bangladesh | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| in the UAE | 1 | 0 | 0 |
England vs Sri Lanka T20 head to head record by competition
| Competition type | England wins | Sri Lanka wins | No result / tie |
| Bilateral series | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| T20 World Cup | 4 | 1 | 0 |
England vs Sri Lanka recent T20 results
| Venue | Year | Toss | 1st innings | 2nd innings | Result |
| Sharjah | 2021 | SRI field | ENG 164/4 | SRI 137 | SRI 26 runs scorecard |
| The Rose Bowl | 2021 | SRI field | ENG 180/6 | SRI 91 | ENG 89 runs |
| Sophia Gardens | 2021 | SRI bat | SRI 111/7 | ENG 108/5 | ENG 5 wkts DLS |
| Sophia Gardens | 2021 | SRI bat | SRI 129/7 | ENG 130/2 | ENG 8 wkts 17 balls |
| Colombo | 2018 | SRI field | ENG 187/8 | SRI 157 | ENG 30 runs |
Leading run scorers in England vs Sri Lanka T20 matches
| Batsman | Team | Total Runs |
| JC Buttler | England | 357 |
| EG Morgan | England | 253 |
| DPMD Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | 213 |
| AD Mathews | Sri Lanka | 194 |
| AD Hales | England | 189 |
Leading wicket takers in England vs Sri Lanka T20 matches
| Bowler | Team | Total Wickets |
| CJ Jordan | England | 17 |
| SL Malinga | Sri Lanka | 13 |
| AU Rashid | England | 9 |
| KMDN Kulasekara | Sri Lanka | 7 |
| PVD Chameera | Sri Lanka | 7 |
Highest score in an England vs Sri Lanka T20 match
England’s score of 190 for 4 made during the 2014 T20 World Cup is the highest in a T20 fixture between England and Sri Lanka.
Chasing 190 to win, England reached their target with 6 wickets and 4 balls to spare as Alex Hales made a magnificent 116 not out receiving able support from captain Eoin Morgan with the pair adding 152 for the 3rd wicket.
Indeed Morgan had come to the crease with his side in dire straights after opener Michael Lumb was dismissed for a 5 ball duck and Moeen Ali followed very next ball to leave England 0 for 2 after 1 over. Given the start and England’s poor head to head record against Sri Lanka in T20 cricket what followed next was on the team’s best white ball comebacks of all time.
Hales and Morgan rebuilt steadily throughout the powerplay to finish 37 for 2 but it was against the spinners that they really made hay with Ajantha Mendis getting particular punishment as he was hit for 4 maximums and went for 52 from his 4 overs.
England wobbled slightly when they lost Morgan and Buttler in the 17th over while still requiring 34 to win from the final 18 balls but new man Ravi Bopara hit his first 2 balls from Lasith Malinga to the boundary to calm some nerves before Hales finished things off with 3 more sixes to record their highest T20 score against Sri Lanka.
Watch the highlights as England recover from a poor start and begin to turn the tide in their head to head record against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s score of 189 in this fixture is their highest score in a T20 match against England
Lowest score in an England vs Sri Lanka T20 match
The record for the lowest score in a T20 match between England and Sri Lanka is 111 for 7 made by SL in the 2nd match of back to back games held at Sophia Gardens in 2021.
Sri Lanka’s batsmen had already struggled in the 1st T20 on a pitch that was a little 2 paced but they did themselves no favours in this game by starting things off with a suicidal run out that Sam Curran completed by kicking the ball at the stumps on his follow through. After Avishka Fernando holed out to the same bowler for just 6, Sri Lanka had to consolidate resulting in them scoring just 26 from the powerplay and failing to register a single boundary while the fielding restrictions were in place.
Experienced pair Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera went about rebuilding the innings but lacked any real fluency and when they were dismissed within 5 balls of each other the Sri Lankan middle order disintegrated losing 5 wickets in 29 balls and adding just 22 runs.
Some spirited hitting from Isuru Udana at least got the visitors to three figures and despite some fine bowling from the Sri Lankans during England’s reply their poultry total of 111 was never likely to be enough as England won via DLS to clinch the series.
More generally in head to heads between England and Sri Lanka this represented England’s 5th straight victory in T20 cricket over the Indian Ocean nation. Strangely in all 5 of those games Sri Lanka had won toss yet failed to take advantage of it.
England’s lowest score against Sri Lanka in a T20 match is the 136 for 9 that they made at Bristol in 2010.
Top score by a batsman in England vs Sri Lanka T20 fixtures
Alex Hales’ score of 116 not out is the highest by a batsman in T20 matches featuring England and Sri Lanka.
Hales innings came from just 64 deliveries and featured 11 x 4s and 6 x 6s. Hales picked his head to head match up against the Sri Lankan attack to perfection, targeting spinner Ajantha Mendis by stepping across to his off-stump and heaving him over mid-wicket, a tactic that at one stage saw him take 25 off a Mendis over.
Hales saw England to a win with perhaps his biggest six of the match off what was ultimately the last ball of their chase. His score of 116* remains a record high score in all T20 cricket for England and was the first century in T20i hit by an England player.
Watch highlights of Hales record score vs Sri Lanka here
The highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman vs England in a T20 match is the 89 made by Mahela Jaywardene in the same fixture
Best bowling figures in England vs Sri Lanka T20 fixtures
Lasith Malinga holds the record for the best bowling figures in a T20 match between Sri Lanka and England with figures of 5 for 31 in the 2012 World Cup.
The legendary pace bowler started by knocking the top off England’s batting in claiming the wickets of Wright, Hales and Bairstow. England looked to rebuild through Samit Patel who made 67 but even he was unable to resist Malinga as he returned late in the innings to claim the prize wicket of Patel and Buttler and lead his side to a 19 run victory.
Joe Denly holds the record for best bowling figures by an Englishman vs Sri Lanka with 4 for 19 that he claimed on his return to international cricket in 2018.