Lanka Premier League 2026 will run from July 17 to August 8, with the opening fixture pitching reigning champions Jaffna against 2024 runners-up Galle at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds in Colombo, Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Friday.
The opening match starts at 7.30 p.m. and will be preceded by an opening ceremony at the SSC. The 23-day tournament will be played across four venues: the SSC, Colombo; Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium; the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium; and the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo.
Sri Lanka Cricket owns the league and is staging the sixth season in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder.
Friday’s schedule confirmation lands the same day Jaffna Kings unveiled Indian firm Sports Commune as its new owner and follows Wednesday’s announcement that Gallant Sports and Media has taken over the Galle franchise, now rebranded as the Galle Gallants.
The opener pairs the two reorganised teams in their first competitive outing under new ownership. Galle Head Coach Pubudu Dassanayake is assessing overseas names including David Warner, Kane Williamson, Sunil Narine and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, while Jaffna Kings co-founder Manjot Kalra has signalled a focus on youth talent.
SLC opened the foreign-player registration window on May 8 and earlier revised its Icon-tier eligibility rules after a brief social-media-follower controversy.
Update (May 18): Sri Lanka Cricket released the full fixture list confirming a 20-match group stage with double-headers on weekends and select weekdays. Group-stage games will be split across the SSC, Rangiri Dambulla and Pallekele (Kandy), with the playoffs moving to the R. Premadasa stadium. The playoff phase begins on August 5 with Qualifier 1 between the top two teams and the Eliminator pitting the third- and fourth-placed sides. Qualifier 2 follows on August 7 and the grand final is set for August 8 at RPICS, with August 9 held as a reserve day.
Sources: Newswire — LPL 2026 to begin on July 17 with Jaffna vs Galle opener, Newswire — Lanka Premier League 2026 fixtures announced.
