Lanka Premier League
Lanka Premier League Competition: participating teams
Colombo Kings
0
Dambulla Viiking
0
Galle Gladiators
0
Jaffna Stallions
2
Lanka Premier League - all about the tournament
The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL, also known as My11Circle LPL T20) is a professional T20 cricket league. It was founded in 2018 on the initiative of Sri Lanka Cricket. It has been held on a permanent basis since 2020; five teams representing the country’s largest cities participate in the competition.
The first season of the LPL was scheduled for the second half of August – the beginning of September 2018. However, due to numerous organizational difficulties, it was decided to postpone the game. Subsequently, the tournament was postponed several more times – this time due to strict quarantine restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, although 70 foreign players expressed a desire to participate in it. In the end, the SLC set the exact start date for the first league draw – November 26, 2020.
Despite the teams having enough time to prepare, the main lineups have undergone significant changes. In particular, South Africans Faf du Plessis and David Miller and Englishman Dawid Malan were forced to withdraw due to a call-up to the November matches of their national teams. Pakistanis Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz were included in the main squad for the matches against New Zealand, and Carlos Brathwaite and Colin Ingram were signed by Australian BBL clubs.
As a result, Dambulla Viiking had to look for a replacement urgently: Lendl Simmons came instead of Brathwaite, and Brendan Taylor and Johnson Charles helped close the problematic positions. A similar problem was faced by Jaffna Stallions, who were forced to sign Kyle Abbott, Duanne Olivier and Tom Moores, who were not initially counted on.
Kandy Tuskers failed to get Chris Gayle, so they had to sign the Indian ex-cricketer Irfan Pathan urgently. Several other players withdrew either due to a lack of game practice (Lasith Malinga) or due to the inability to pass the mandatory quarantine on time (Manvinder Bisla). Ravinderpal Singh, who was counted on by the Colombo Kings, passed a positive test for COVID-19, as did Sohail Tanvir, who played for the Kandy Tuskers, who was hastily replaced by Dale Steyn. Andre Russell did not have time to go through self-isolation.
The best results in the group stage were shown by Colombo Kings (six wins), but they were stronger than Galle Gladiators in the semi-finals.
The final was won by Jaffna Stallions, who managed to beat Galle Gladiators by 53 runs.
Lanka Premier League: organization and participants
The Lanka Premier League is held in a round-robin format. In the group stage, each team plays eight matches, according to the results of which the four participants who scored the maximum number of points advance to the semi-finals. There are three matches in the playoffs: two semi-finals and a final, respectively.
The following teams participated in the first draw of the Lanka Premier League:
| Team | Captain | Total number of matches played | Wins | Losses |
| Colombo Kings | Angelo Mathews | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| Dambulla Viiking | Dasun Shanaka | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| Jaffna Stallions | Bhanuka Rajapaksa | 8 | 4 | 3 |
| Galle Gladiators | Thisara Perera | 8 | 2 | 6 |
| Kandy Tuskers | Kusal Perera | 8 | 2 | 6 |
According to the latest reports of the organizers, the list of participants of the second draw is still being clarified. At least three teams managed to confirm their readiness to take the field: Jaffna Stallions, Galle Gladiators and Kandy Tuskers.
Lanka Premier League: team performance statistics
Even though the Lanka Premier League is a very young tournament, the first records have already been set:
- The maximum number of runs on account of the representative of Galle Gladiators Danushka Gunathilaki;
- Wanindu Hasaranga (Jaffna Stallions) took the most wickets – 17.
