The 2026 Lanka Premier League, also known as LPL 6, was the sixth edition of the Lanka Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league. The tournament featured 5 teams competing in 24 matches from 17 July to 8 August across 4 venues.
Defending champions Jaffna Kings were defeated in the final by Galle Gallants, who went on to win their maiden title. Lahiru Udara of Kandy Royals scored the most runs (434), while Eshan Malinga of Galle took the most wickets (17). Kamil Mishara of Jaffna was named as the player of the tournament.
Background The Lanka Premier League (LPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league, organised by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). It has been held annually since the 2020 with the exception of 2025. Jaffna Kings were the defending champions, having won their fourth title the previous season, defeating Galle Marvels in the final by nine wickets.
Format In the league stage, each team played twice against each other teams in a double round-robin format for a total of twenty matches. After the league stage, the top four teams, based on aggregate points, advanced to the playoffs. In this stage, the top two teams competed with each other (in a match titled "Qualifier 1"), as did the remaining two teams (in a match titled "Eliminator"). While the winner of Qualifier 1 directly qualified for the final match, the losing team had another chance to qualify for the final match by competing against the winning team of Eliminator (in a match titled "Qualifier 2"). The winner of this subsequent Qualifier 2 advanced to the final match.
Schedule The sixth season of the LPL was initially scheduled to take place across three venues in its usual November–December window, from 27 November to 23 December 2025. However, on 22 October 2025, the SLC announced that the season would be delayed to allow for the venues to be prepared for the then-upcoming 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, which was held in India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March 2026. On 1 December 2025, the SLC announced a tentative schedule of 8 July to 8 August 2026, shifting to a mid-year window. The schedule was later revised to take place from 10 July to 5 August 2026, before being finalised to take place from 17 July to 8 August 2026.
Marketing The Caribbean cricketer Chris Gayle was announced as the brand ambassador for the 2026 LPL.
Broadcasting On 20 May 2026, SLTMobitel's Peo TV and the IPG Group announced a partnership to handle the media and broadcast rights for the 2026 LPL. The season was also broadcast on the Star Sports network.
Teams
Team 2024 performance Head coach Captain Colombo Kaps Chamara Kapugedera Kamindu Mendis Dambulla Sixers Rangana Herath Dinesh Chandimal Galle Gallants Pubudu Dassanayake Dasun Shanaka Jaffna Kings Thilina Kandamby Bhanuka Rajapaksa Kandy Royals Chaminda Vaas Angelo Mathews
Franchise changes In October 2025, the SLC terminated both the Colombo Strikers and Jaffna Kings franchises for failing to fulfill contractual obligations. The Colombo franchise was purchased by Witness Sports Alliance LLC, led by Indian entrepreneurs Saranyan Palaniswamy and K.C. Shyam Kangayan, and was renamed Colombo Kaps, while the Jaffna franchise was purchased by Sports Commune, led by Indian sports entrepreneurs Manjot Kalra and Mayank Goel. Additionally, the Galle franchise was purchased by Gallant Sports and Media LLC, led by Kiran Mantripragada, and was renamed Galle Gallants, while the Kandy franchise was purchased by Sandhya Ajjarapu, a US-based investor and entrepreneur, and was renamed Kandy Royals.
Jaffna franchise ownership On 17 July 2026, hours before the opening match of the season, Manjot Kalra, co-owner of the Jaffna franchise via Sports Commune, was arrested by Sri Lanka's Special Investigation Unit (SIU) for the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports in connection with an anti-corruption investigation. The SLC stated that it would fully cooperate with the investigation and reiterated its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, while confirming that the tournament would continue as planned. On 23 July, Sports Commune's ownership of the franchise was terminated. To stabilize the franchise, the SLC and the league's commercial rights holder, the IPG Group, assumed full operational control of the team and took over all personnel contracts. On 4 August, a day before the playoffs, the franchise was acquired by Anchor Sports, a Stockholm-based sports group co-owned by entrepreneur Nagendra Siddoutam and former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan.
Players' draft
In January 2026, the SLC announced that instead of an auction, a players' draft would be held ahead of the 2026 season. The players' draft was originally scheduled for 22 March 2026, but was postponed to 1 June 2026. Overseas player registrations commenced on 8 May, and over 650 players from 21 countries registered for the draft and 310 were shortlisted. Twenty players including ten overseas players were directly signed before the draft. A total of 77 players including 25 overseas players were signed during the draft.
Venues The league stage was played across 3 stadiums across Sri Lanka: SSC Cricket Ground in Colombo, Rangiri Dambulla Stadium in Dambulla and Pallekele Cricket Stadium in Kandy. The playoff matches including the final were played at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Colombo R. Premadasa Stadium SSC Cricket Ground Capacity: 35,000 Capacity: 10,000 Dambulla Kandy Rangiri Dambulla Stadium Pallekele Cricket Stadium Capacity: 16,800 Capacity: 35,000
Match officials On 30 June 2026, the SLC announced the list of match referees and umpires for the tournament.
Match referees
Umpires
League stage The fixtures for the 2026 LPL were announced by the SLC on 18 May 2026. The tournament commenced on 17 July with an opening ceremony, followed by the opening match between Jaffna and Galle at the SSC Cricket Ground.
Points table
Match summary
Fixtures
Playoffs
Bracket
Sources:
Qualifier 1
Eliminator
Qualifier 2
Final
Statistics and awards + Most runs Runs Player Team 434 Lahiru Udara Kandy Royals 425 Sam Harper Galle Gallants 411 Kamil Mishara Jaffna Kings 385 Charith Asalanka Galle Gallants 294 Reeza Hendricks Dambulla Sixers + Most wickets Wickets Player Team 17 Eshan Malinga Galle Gallants 16 Lizaad Williams Jaffna Kings 15 Akif Javed Galle Gallants 14 3 players
End of season awards + End of season awards Award Player Team Player of the tournament Kamil Mishara Jaffna Kings Best sportsmanship Sam Harper Galle Gallants Emerging player of the tournament Traveen Mathew Jaffna Kings
References
External links