Colombo, Dec 6 : The Twenty20 fever officially hit the islands of Sri Lanka as the second season of the Lanka Premier League took off with a glitzy opening ceremony in front of a host of fans at the R.Premadasa Stadium here.
The culture and the tremendous passion for cricket in Sri Lanka was on display as various artists performed to the tune of the Lanka Premier League official song ‘Ekwa Jayagamu’.
Amongst the colour and fervour of the massive opening ceremony, the Lanka Premier League witnessed the presence of Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Namal Rajapaksa and General Shavendra Silva here on Sunday night.
Paralympic Gold Medalist Dinesh Priyantha also graced the event and declared the T20 franchise tournament open.
Commenting on the occassion, Angelo Mathews, Captain of Colombo Stars and Sri Lankan legend said, “You know, all the nations are having this kind of a tournament and it benefits the country’s cricket because you produce so many young players and you give them the exposure playing with international stars so yeah, it’s a great exposure for all of them.LPL is a great platform and will benefit Sri Lankan cricket greatly.”
The Lanka Premier League will feature five teams competing for the trophy: Galle Gladiators (Jaffna Kings), Dambulla Giants (Dambulla Giants), Kandy Warriors (Colombo Stars).The Galle Gladiators won the opening match of the league by winning 54 runs against Jaffna Kings in Colombo.Gladiators Captain Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored 56 runs off 31 runs and helped his team post a total of 164/7.
Thereafter, Samit Patel picked up figures of 3/21 as the Gladiators bowled the Jaffna Kings out for 110.
Player of the Match Samit Patel said, “LPL is a great tournament to play in.It is a great tournament with some exceptional players.There is a lot of talent in Sri Lanka and they will be even more successful with exposure and experience.”
There will be 24 matches in the Lanka Premier League 2021.The Final Round Games will feature the top two teams from the points table playing the Qualifier 1 and the third and fourth placed teams playing in the Eliminator.’
The winner of the Qualifier 1 will automatically be entered into the Final.The loser of the Qualifier 1 will play against the winner in the Final.
The winner of the Final will then face off against the winner in the Final.The final will be played on December 23 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota.
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