Lanka Premier League 2020

Squads

The player draft was scheduled to be held on 1 October 2020. It was later rescheduled to 9 October 2020 to ensure the players had adequate time to meet the Sri Lankan government’s quarantine requirements. The draft was again rescheduled for a second time to 19 October 2020 due to the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the country. The squads were announced at the draft via Zoom. South African players Faf du Plessis and David Miller alongside Englishman Dawid Malan pulled out of the tournament as they were named in the limited overs squads for the series between English and South Africa in November 2020. Pakistani players Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz pulled out of the tournament as they were named in the 35 member Pakistan squad for the series against New Zealand in December 2020. Colin Ingram pulled out of the tournament due to his Big Bash League stint with Hobart Hurricanes while Carlos Brathwaite also withdrew from the tournament after being signed by the Sydney Sixers for the upcoming 2020-21 Big Bash League season. Lendl Simmons replaced Carlos Brathwaite in the Dambulla Viiking team while Brendan Taylor and Johnson Charles who were initially not picked by any franchises in the draft were signed by the Dambulla Viiking to complete the six foreign players slot. Jaffna Stallions signed Kyle Abbott, Duanne Olivier and Tom Moores who were not initially part of the draft while Ravi Bopara replaced Asif Ali in Jaffna Stallions to complete its six foreign player slot. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan who was not initially picked by any franchises in the draft was later signed by the Kandy Tuskers. Manvinder Bisla who was picked by Colombo Kings in the draft had later pulled out of the tournament owing to the strict 14-day quarantine procedure to foreign players. Chris Gayle pulled out of the tournament due to a side strain and also due to failing to negotiate the contract terms with the Kandy Tuskers franchise. Lasith Malinga also withdrew citing fitness issues and lack of match practice. Ravi Bopara who was later drafted into the Jaffna Stallions squad also pulled out citing payment issues. Canadian batsman Ravinderpal Singh was tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving at the Colombo airport. Andre Russell who also arrived with him in the same flight was kept under self-isolation. He was immediately taken to the hospital and reports yet to emerge whether he would be replaced by another player. More replacements were later announced on 20 November 2020. Sohail Tanvir who was set to play for Kandy Tuskers was replaced by Dale Steyn after testing positive for COVID-19. In later reports, it was revealed that one Pakistani player, one Indian player and one Indian television production technician whose names were not disclosed have been tested positive for COVID-19.

Venues

Initially, matches were scheduled to be held in Kandy, Dambulla and Hambantota. The possibility of moving the tournament to either Malaysia or the United Arab Emirates was once considered to circumvent the 14-day quarantine. In the end, health officials agreed to reducing the quarantine period for foreign players from 14 days to 7 days. Following the urge from health officials, all 23 matches would be held in Hambantota.

Points table

The top four teams qualified for the playoffs , Advanced to semifinals

League stage

Colombo Kings won the toss and elected to field. , Super Over: Colombo Kings 16/1, Kandy Tuskers 12/0 Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat. Kandy Tuskers won the toss and elected to field. , Kandy Tuskers were set a revised target of 89 runs from 9.4 overs due to rain. Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to field. , The match was reduced to 5 overs per side due to rain. Dambulla Viiking won the toss and elected to field. Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to field. Dambulla Viiking won the toss and elected to bat. Jaffna Stallions won the toss and elected to bat. Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat. Kandy Tuskers won the toss and elected to bat. Colombo Kings won the toss and elected to field. , Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (Jaffna Stallions) made his T20 debut. Dambulla Viiking won the toss and elected to bat. , Dambulla Viiking and Jaffna Stallions qualified for the playoffs as a result of this match. Kandy Tuskers won the toss and elected to bat. , Colombo Kings qualified for the playoffs as a result of this match. Colombo Kings won the toss and elected to bat. Jaffna Stallions won the toss and elected to field. , No further play was possible due to rain. Jaffna Stallions won the toss and elected to bat. Dambulla Viiking won the toss and elected to field. , Dilshan Madushanka (Dambulla Viiking) made his T20 debut. Jaffna Stallions won the toss and elected to field. Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to field. , Galle Gladiators qualified for the playoffs and Kandy Tuskers were eliminated as a result of this match. Colombo Kings won the toss and elected to field. , Kavindu Nadeeshan (Dambulla Viiking) made his T20 debut.

Semi-final 1

Galle Gladiators won the toss and elected to field.

Semi-final 2

Dambulla Viiking won the toss and elected to field.

Final

Jaffna Stallions won the toss and elected to bat.