Gunathilaka and Kusal Perera are at the crease. Gunathilaka is on strike. Shanaka will open the attack

Kandy are in a group huddle and we are ready for Match 1 of the 2024 LPL. Dasun Shanaka with the new ball, a slip in place

Teams:

B-Love Kandy (Playing XI): Andre Fletcher, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Mohammad Haris, Kamindu Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga(c), Chaturanga de Silva, Dushmantha Chameera, Chamath Gomez, Mohammad Hasnain

Dambulla Sixers (Playing XI): Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Perera(w), Nuwanidu Fernando, Towhid Hridoy, Mark Chapman, Mohammad Nabi(c), Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Thushara, Mustafizur Rahman, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Dilshan Madushanka

Cool and pleasant evening, the players will like these conditions. One of the better wickets in Sri Lanka, good pace and bounce, it's nice and hard, a few cracks which will have no impact. Dew could play a factor though, 180 is probably a decent score to defend, a batting pitch though, reckons Russel Arnold, in his pitch report

[b]
Mohammad Nabi[/b] - Good pitch, doesn't matter if we bat or bowl first. Looking to put up a good score on the board. We've a good balanced team. The journey of our World Cup is finished, looking forward to a good LPL

Wanindu Hasaranga - We will bowl first. First game of the season, we want to bowl well and then chase. We know 70% of the players, they played for us, I'm happy with the team, but we need to do well in the basics. We're waiting for a few overseas players, so playing 3 today

B-Love Kandy have won the toss and have opted to field

19:01 Local Time, 13:31 GMT, 19:01 IST: We should have the toss now. The stadium has been cleared and the captains are out in the middle..

18:45 Local Time, 13:15 GMT, 18:45 IST: Michael Clarke, the brand ambassador, comes up after some enetrtainment programs to deliver a speech

18:35 Local Time, 13:05 GMT, 18:35 IST: The tournament is off and running with a glittering opening ceremony with all the captains called upon stage

18:30 Local Time, 13:00 GMT, 18:30 IST: Barely 66 hours after India were crowned as the world T20 champions, the gravy train is back with the Lanka premier league. As many as 5 teams will face off each other in a double round-robin format with four of them going through to the playoffs. As such, you can afford to lose quite a few games and still make it through to the playoffs, but the teams finishing 1st and 2nd do have an advantage of getting two bites at a place in the final. Lots of interest in the tournament which kicks off with an opening ceremony and then followed by the first match of the league - defending champions Kandy taking on Dambulla. Lots of Sri Lankan stars in action today, add a sprinkling of overseas talent and we should have a good game of cricket.

Squads:

B-Love Kandy Squad: Mohammad Haris, Andre Fletcher, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Ashen Bandara, Dimuth Karunaratne, Pawan Rathnayake, Wanindu Hasaranga(c), Agha Salman, Chaturanga de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Ramesh Mendis, Shammu Ashan, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lakshan Sandakan, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Ali, Chamath Gomez, Kavindu Pathiratne

Dambulla Sixers Squad: Kusal Perera(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Mark Chapman, Towhid Hridoy, Asanka Manoj, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Nuwanidu Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Madushanka, Sonal Dinusha, Dushan Hemantha, Mohammad Nabi(c), Nimesh Vimukthi, Lahiru Udara, Ranesh Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Akila Dananjaya, Mustafizur Rahman, Dilshan Madushanka, Praveen Jayawickrama, Nuwan Thushara, Sachitha Jayathilake