Pallekele International Cricket Stadium

Constructed in time for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy is one of the newest major grounds in Sri Lanka. 

Our OCB guide to the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and pitch report will give you all the stats you need to know. 

The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 and many 2012 ICC World Twenty20 matches were played at this stadium. 

Kandy's stadium saw a wicket with the very first ball bowled in Test cricket here, with Sri Lanka's Suranga Lakmal making history by removing West Indies opening batter Chris Gayle. 

The highest partnership for the opening wicket in a Cricket World Cup game happened at the venue when Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga combined to make 282 against Zimbabwe. 

A trio of players - Dilshan (104), Brendan McCullum (123) and Glenn Maxwell (145) - have so far made centuries in Twenty20 international matches played at the Kandy ground. 

Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is also where Pathum Nissanka made an unbeaten 210 runs, making history by becoming first Sri Lankan to score a double hundred in an ODI. 

Along with internationals, the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is one of the main venues used for the Lanka Premier League, which is Sri Lanka's main domestic T20 tournament.  

Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Pitch Report

Scoring tends to be good in Kandy, with the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium tending to be home to some high totals in various formats of the game. 

The pitch report shows quick bowlers can have an impact in the powerplay, but their influence tends to dip as the match progresses. 

Spinners tend to come into the game after a while and there is no doubt slow bowlers tend to thrive on the surface at this cricket ground 

The stadium saw an average first innings score of almost 185 in T20s played in 2024, according to data collected by Cricmetric. 

This suggests Kandy is a good place to bat in limited-overs cricket, while the statistics show it is a significant advantage to bat second. 

Chasing teams win 60% of the time at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium compared to 40% of wins for teams batting first. 

For team selections assessing the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium pitch report, leg-break bowlers could be the way to go. They have a low economy and averages here. 

Fast bowlers have a very high bowling average for T20s in Kandy and medium pace bowlers tend to struggle to keep the scoring down as well. 

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