R Premadasa Stadium: pitch report, records and stats
The biggest ground in Sri Lanka has staged 158 ODIs, 55 T20Is and the highest team total in Test history. Here is what the Colombo pitch does and every record set at the venue.
Jul 31, 2024 · Updated Jul 31, 2026
The R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is the biggest cricket ground in Sri Lanka and by some distance its busiest international venue. It opened in 1986 as the Khettarama Cricket Stadium, was renamed in June 1994 after the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, and now seats around 35,000 under floodlights. It has staged 158 one-day internationals, 55 T20 internationals and nine Tests, including the innings that still sits at the top of the Test record book: Sri Lanka’s 952 for 6 declared against India in 1997.
Here is what the surface actually does, what four decades of results say about batting first there, and the full record list across all three international formats.
R Premadasa Stadium at a glance
| Full name | R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium |
| Also known as | Khettarama Stadium (until June 1994) |
| Location | Khettarama Road, Maligawatta, Colombo |
| Established | 1986 |
| Capacity | 35,000 |
| Ends | Khettarama End, Maligawatte End |
| Floodlights | Yes |
| Owner | Sri Lanka Cricket |
| First Test | Sri Lanka v Australia, 28 August 1992 |
| First ODI | Sri Lanka v New Zealand, 5 April 1986 |
| Matches hosted | 9 Tests, 158 ODIs, 55 T20Is |
R Premadasa Stadium pitch report
The short version: it is a slow, low surface where the ball grips more the longer a match goes on, and where spin through the middle overs decides most games. Seamers get something early if the morning is humid. After that the pace drains out of it.
The longer version is where it gets interesting, because the ground behaves differently depending on how long the game is, and almost every pitch report you will read flattens that difference into one number.
In one-day cricket, setting a target has been the better option. Of the 158 ODIs played at the ground, 148 produced a result. The side batting first won 88 of those and the chasing side won 60, which is 59 per cent to the team that put runs on the board. It has not softened with time either: since the start of 2016 the split is 23 to 13 the same way. The received wisdom is that this is a chasing ground. Across four decades of ODI results, it has not been one.
The average first-innings score in those 148 completed ODI innings is 242, with a median of 240. Restrict it to 2016 onwards and the average rises to 254, which is the number to work from for a modern 50-over game here. Dew is why people assume the chase is easy, and it is real under lights, but it works against a surface that is gripping harder by the hour, so a total defended late in the evening is often worth more than it looks.
Twenty-over cricket flips it. Of the 55 T20 internationals played at the R Premadasa, 54 produced a result, and the chasing side won 30 of them to 24 for the team batting first. Twenty overs is too short for the pitch to change much, which leaves dew as the dominant variable and makes knowing the target the bigger advantage. The average first-innings T20I score is 153, low by modern standards and a fair measure of how hard scoring gets once the spinners come on.
So the honest summary is that this is a toss worth winning in T20s and a toss worth losing in ODIs. Par is roughly 250 in a 50-over game and 155 in a T20. Both figures cover internationals only; Lanka Premier League and domestic games at the ground run lower.
ODI records at R Premadasa Stadium
No ground in Sri Lanka has hosted more ODIs, and the record list is dominated by the Sri Lankan sides of the late 1990s and 2000s.
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Highest team total | India 375/5 v Sri Lanka, 31 August 2017 |
| Highest by Sri Lanka | 366/6 v England, 23 October 2018 |
| Lowest team total | Sri Lanka 50 all out v India, 17 September 2023 |
| Highest successful chase | Sri Lanka 292/4 (48.3 ov) v Australia, 19 June 2022 |
| Highest individual score | Kumar Sangakkara 169 (137 balls) v South Africa, 20 July 2013 |
| Most runs | Sanath Jayasuriya, 2,514 at 38.67 |
| Best bowling in an innings | Wanindu Hasaranga 7/19 v Zimbabwe, 11 January 2024 |
| Most wickets | Muthiah Muralidaran, 75 at 26.33 |
Two of those lines come from the same four months of Sri Lankan cricket and point in opposite directions. The 50 all out against India in the 2023 Asia Cup final is the lowest total the ground has seen, and Mohammed Siraj’s 6 for 21 in that innings is the third-best analysis ever recorded there, behind Hasaranga’s 7 for 19 against Zimbabwe and Angelo Mathews’ 6 for 20 against India in 2009. Hasaranga’s spell came four months after Siraj’s, on the same square.
Jayasuriya’s 2,514 runs is a total nobody currently playing will get near. Kusal Mendis leads the active players with 1,261 at 52.54, which is the best average of anyone with 20 or more innings at the ground.
T20I records at R Premadasa Stadium
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Highest team total | Bangladesh 215/5 v Sri Lanka, 10 March 2018 |
| Lowest team total | 80 all out, twice: Afghanistan v England and England v India, September 2012 |
| Highest successful chase | Bangladesh 215/5 (19.4 ov) v Sri Lanka, 10 March 2018 |
| Highest individual score | Luke Wright 99* (55 balls) v Afghanistan, 21 September 2012 |
| Most runs | Kusal Perera, 464 at 25.77 |
| Best bowling in an innings | Wanindu Hasaranga 4/9 v India, 29 July 2021 |
| Most wickets | Wanindu Hasaranga, 24 at 12.79 |
The Nidahas Trophy game of 10 March 2018 accounts for three of those lines on its own. Sri Lanka made 214 for 6, Bangladesh answered with 215 for 5 and got there with two balls left, and no other T20 international at the ground has come within ten runs of either total. The 2012 World T20 produced the two lowest, both 80, two days apart.
Hasaranga’s numbers here are worth a second look. Twenty-four wickets in 12 innings at 12.79 is far and away the best any bowler has managed at the ground in the format, and he holds the best individual figures in both the T20I and the ODI list.
Test records at R Premadasa Stadium
Tests are the anomaly. The ground has hosted nine of them and none since July 2017, with most of Colombo’s red-ball cricket going to the Sinhalese Sports Club and the P Sara Oval instead. Sri Lanka won four of the nine, New Zealand won one in 1998, and four were drawn.
What those nine lack in volume they make up for in a single innings. In August 1997 India declared on 537 for 8, which on most grounds would settle a match, and Sri Lanka replied with 952 for 6 declared from 271 overs. It is still the highest team total in Test history, and it beat England’s 903 for 7 declared from 1938. Sanath Jayasuriya made 340 and Roshan Mahanama 225, and their second-wicket stand of 576 was the record partnership for any wicket in Test cricket until Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene made 624 in 2006. The match was drawn, which was the only result available by the fourth evening.
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Highest team total | Sri Lanka 952/6d v India, August 1997 |
| Lowest team total | Bangladesh 86 all out v Sri Lanka, 12 September 2005 |
| Highest individual score | Sanath Jayasuriya 340 v India, August 1997 |
| Highest partnership | 576 (2nd wkt), Jayasuriya and Mahanama v India, August 1997 |
| Most runs | Sanath Jayasuriya, 568 at 71.00 |
| Best bowling in an innings | Rangana Herath 7/89 v Bangladesh, 16 March 2013 |
| Most wickets | Muthiah Muralidaran, 36 in 10 innings |
For the wider picture, our Test cricket records and ODI cricket records pages carry the all-time lists these venue numbers sit inside.
The biggest matches played at the R Premadasa
The 2002 Champions Trophy final was played twice and finished neither time. Sri Lanka and India were washed out on 29 September and again on the reserve day on 30 September, and the trophy was shared. Both attempts sit in the ground’s ODI list as no-results.
The 2011 World Cup first semi-final went better for the hosts. Sri Lanka bowled New Zealand out for 217 on 29 March and got home by five wickets with 13 balls to spare, Sangakkara top-scoring with 54.
Eighteen months later the ground held the 2012 World T20 final, and Sri Lanka lost that one at home. West Indies were 32 for 2 after ten overs, then took 105 off the last ten, Marlon Samuels making 78 from 56 balls. They won by 36 runs for their first world title in the format.
The heaviest defeat the ground has staged came in the 2023 Asia Cup final. India bowled Sri Lanka out for 50 in 15.2 overs, Siraj taking four wickets in one over on his way to 6 for 21, and won by ten wickets with 263 balls unused.
What is next at the R Premadasa Stadium
The ground has the business end of the 2026 Lanka Premier League. Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator are both scheduled there on 5 August, Qualifier 2 on 7 August and the final on 8 August, with 9 August held as a reserve day. Our cricket news coverage is following the run-in.
One thing worth clearing up for anyone searching ahead of India’s tour: the two-Test series in August 2026 is not being played here. The first Test is at Galle from 15 August and the second is at the SSC in Colombo from 23 August. The R Premadasa has not staged a Test since 2017 and is not on this itinerary.
Frequently asked questions
Is the R Premadasa Stadium good for batting or bowling? It favours bowlers, and spinners in particular. The average first-innings score is 242 in ODIs, or 254 since 2016, and 153 in T20 internationals.
Should you bat or field first at the R Premadasa Stadium? It depends on the format. In ODIs, teams batting first have won 88 of the 148 completed matches. In T20 internationals, chasing sides have won 30 of 54. Dew under lights is the main argument for chasing in the shorter game.
What is the capacity of the R Premadasa Stadium? Around 35,000, which makes it the largest stadium in Sri Lanka.
Why was it called the Khettarama Stadium? It took the name of Khettarama, the area of Colombo it stands in, and kept it from the 1986 opening until June 1994, when it was renamed for President Ranasinghe Premadasa.
What is the highest score at the R Premadasa Stadium? Sri Lanka’s 952 for 6 declared against India in August 1997, which is also the highest team total in Test history. In ODIs it is India’s 375 for 5 in 2017, and in T20 internationals Bangladesh’s 215 for 5 in 2018.
Records and results are current to 31 July 2026 and taken from ESPNcricinfo’s ground records. The first-innings averages and the bat-first split are calculated from the full innings-by-innings list rather than quoted from a summary.