The 2026 Lanka Premier League final was a Twenty20 (T20) cricket match played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 8 August 2026 to determine the winner of the 2026 Lanka Premier League (LPL). The defending champions, Jaffna Kings, qualified for the final after winning Qualifier 1 against Galle Gallants, who went on to defeat Colombo Kaps in Qualifier 2 to secure their place in the final. Jaffna won the toss and elected to bat first; Jaffna were all out for 123 runs in their innings, which Galle chased down in 16 overs scoring 126/5 to win their maiden LPL title. This was the first time that Jaffna lost in the LPL finals.
Background
The 2026 Lanka Premier League was the sixth edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league, organised by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The season commenced on 17 July and consisted of 5 teams competing in 24 matches. After the conclusion of the group stage, four teams advanced to the playoffs, which began on 5 August and concluded with the final played on 8 August at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. This was the fourth consecutive LPL final held at that venue, after the 2022, 2023 and 2024 events. The venue was opened to the general public for the final match, with free access granted to the C Upper, C Lower, D Upper, and D Lower stands.
The defending champions, Jaffna Kings, qualified for their fifth LPL final after previously being champions in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024. Galle Gallants qualified for their fourth final after previously being runners-up in 2020, 2021 and 2024. The two teams had previously competed in three LPL finals, with Jaffna having won on all three occasions.
Road to the final
+ Road to the final vs League stage Opponent Date Result Points Match Opponent Date Result Points Galle Gallants 17 July 2026 Lost 0 1 Jaffna Kings 17 July 2026 Won 2 Dambulla Sixers 19 July 2026 Won 2 2 Colombo Kaps 18 July 2026 Won 4 Colombo Kaps 22 July 2026 Won 4 3 Dambulla Sixers 22 July 2026 Lost 4 Galle Gallants 23 July 2026 Lost 4 4 Jaffna Kings 23 July 2026 Won 6 Kandy Royals 26 July 2026 Won 6 5 Kandy Royals 25 July 2026 Lost 6 Colombo Kaps 28 July 2026 Won 8 6 Dambulla Sixers 26 July 2026 Won 8 Kandy Royals 30 July 2026 Won 10 7 Kandy Royals 29 July 2026 Lost 8 Dambulla Sixers 2 August 2026 N/R 11 8 Colombo Kaps 1 August 2026 Won 10 Playoff stage Opponent Date Result Match Opponent Date Result Galle Gallants 5 August 2026 Won Jaffna Kings 5 August 2026 Lost Qualified for the final Colombo Kaps 7 August 2026 Won 2026 Lanka Premier League final
Jaffna Kings Jaffna Kings began their season with a loss to Galle. They won their next two matches against Dambulla Sixers and Colombo Kaps, but again lost to Galle. They won their next three matches against Kandy Royals, Colombo and Kandy again. Their last league stage match of the season against Dambulla was abandoned due to rain. As they finished the stage in first place with eleven points, they advanced to Qualifier 1 in the playoffs. They defeated Galle in Qualifier 1 to qualify for the final.
Galle Gallants Galle Gallants began their season with two wins against Jaffna and Colombo. They then lost to Dambulla, won against Jaffna, lost to Kandy, won against Dambulla, lost to Kandy and won against Colombo to finish the league stage in second place with ten points and advanced to Qualifier 1 in the playoffs. They lost Qualifier 1 to Jaffna, but won Qualifier 2 against Colombo to qualify for the final.
Match Match officials The on-field umpires for the final were Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Wayne Knights (NZ), while the third umpire was Raveendra Wimalasiri (SL). Chamara de Soysa (SL) was the reserve umpire and Ranjan Madugalle (SL) was the match referee.
Team and toss
Jaffna's captain Bhanuka Rajapaksa won the toss and elected to bat.
Galle Gallants: Eshan Malinga (SUB), Sam Harper (wk), Thomas Rogers, Charith Asalanka, Dinura Kalupahana, Chamika Karunaratne, Sahan Arachchige (IMP), Dasun Shanaka (c), Mohammad Nawaz, Tharindu Rathnayake, Sachindu Colombage, Akif Javed Jaffna Kings: Lizaad Williams (IMP), Avishka Fernando, Kamil Mishara (wk), Khawaja Nafay, Tawhid Hridoy (SUB), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (c), Dunith Wellalage, Shakib Al Hasan, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Mohamed Shiraz, Traveen Mathew, Zahoor Khan
(IMP) indicates an impact player and (SUB) indicates the player who was substituted.
+ Impact players Team Out In Galle Gallants Eshan Malinga Sahan Arachchige Jaffna Kings Tawhid Hridoy Lizaad Williams
Match scorecard
Jaffna Kings innings Opting to bat first, Jaffna opener Avishka Fernando scored 20 runs before being dismissed in the fourth over. Second opener Kamil Mishara scored 41 runs, while four other batters were dismissed for fewer then 10 runs each. Chamindu Wickramasinghe scored 24 runs, while the remaining batters were dismissed for single-digit scores, bundling out Jaffna for 123 runs. Mishara was Jaffna's highest run-scorer, while Charith Asalanka and Eshan Malinga picked up three wickets each for Galle. Asalanka later received the player of the match award for his bowling performance.
|- align=left | Extras || (lb 2, w 7) || || || || || |- align=right | || || 123 || || 10 || 2 || RR: 6.30
Fall of wickets: 1–25 (Avishka Fernando, 3.5 ov), 2–31 (Khawaja Nafay, 4.3 ov), 3–51 (Towhid Hridoy, 7.2 ov), 4–62 (Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 8.6 ov), 5–68 (Dunith Wellalage, 10.6 ov), 6–87 (Kamil Mishara, 12.6 ov), 7–106 (Shakib Al Hasan, 16.1 ov), 8–113 (Mohamed Shiraz, 17.4 ov), 9–120 (Chamindu Wickramasinghe, 18.2 ov), 10–123 (Zahoor Khan, 19.3 ov)
Galle Gallants innings Chasing the target of 124, Galle opener Sam Harper was dismissed for a single run, followed by Charith Asalanka for 2 runs. Second openers Tom Rogers and Dinura Kalupahana put together a partnership of 64 runs before both batters were dismissed in the ninth over. Chamika Karunaratne and Sahan Arachchige then put together a partnership of 28 runs until the former was dismissed in the fourteenth over. Galle captain Dasun Shanaka scored 20 runs in 9 balls of 15th and 16th overs to take Galle to 126 to secure their maiden LPL title. Rogers and Kalupahana scored 34 and 31 runs for Galle respectively while Traveen Mathew and Shakib Al Hasan picked up two wickets each for Jaffna.
|- align=left | Extras || (lb 2, nb 1, w 5) || || || || || |- align=right | || || 126 || || 15 || 1 || RR: 7.95
Fall of wickets: 1–7 (Sam Harper, 0.4 ov), 2–10 (Charith Asalanka, 1.2 ov), 3–74 (Thomas Rogers, 8.1 ov), 4–75 (Dinura Kalupahana, 8.6 ov), 5–103 (Chamika Karunaratne, 13.3 ov)
References
External links