The 1st match of LPL T20 is scheduled to play between Jaffna Kings and Galle Gladiators on Tuesday, 7th December 2022 at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota.

Thisara Perera was leading Jaffna Kings in the previous edition of LPL and he will also be leading the Kings in this tournament. Jaffna Kings had not made many changes in their squad and had picked almost the same players who were part of the squad of this team in the previous season. The batting order of this team is strong at least on paper. Ashan Randika, Nipun Dananjaya, and Avishka Fernando are the leading batsmen in the squad of this team while Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sadeera Samarawickrama, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are wicket-keeper batters in this team.

Jaffna Kings also have some best batting all-rounders of white ball cricket in their squad. Shoaib Malik, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sumida Lakshan, James Neesham, and Theivendiram Dinoshan are leading batting all-rounders who are part of the batting squad of the Kings. Jaffna Kings are very rich in the bowling department. Mahesh Theekshana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dunith Wellalage, Binura Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Waqar Salamkheil, James Fuller, Asitha Fernando, and Theesan Vithushan are part of the bowling squad of the Kings. We think that the Kings will give a tough time to all other teams in this tournament and will also defend their title.

Galle Gladiators had changed their captain for this edition of the Lanka Premier League. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was leading the Gladiators in the previous season and now they had appointed Kusal Mendis as their new leader. Galle Gladiators had made a lot of changes in their squad and had picked the best players of the T20 format of cricket. They had added their batting order and added Iftikhar Ahmad, Azam Khan, and Kusal Perera in their squad. These changes made the batting order of this team much stronger than they were in the previous season. Nuwanidu Fernando and Asad Shafiq are also part of the batting squad of this side.

Galle Gladiators had dropped their main bowlers which were part of the team in the previous season and had picked some new names in the bowling department. Imad Wasim had played recently in the T10 league and had performed well for his team. The conditions in Sri Lanka are not much different from Abu Dhabi and we are hoping that he will also play well in this tournament. Anwar Ali and Mohammad Hasnain are also available in the bowling unit of this team. Mohammad Hasnain was part of the national team of Pakistan in the T20 World Cup but he did not perform well in Australia. The playing conditions in Sri Lanka are much different from Australia and we are sure that he will perform well. You can pick him as the highest wicket-taker. Pulina Tharanga, Nuwan Thushara, Lakshan Sandakan, Nipun Malinga, Sachindu Colombage, and Nuwan Pradeep are other bowlers of Galle Gladiators.

Galle Gladiators are also overall a strong team as compared to the Jaffna Kings at least on paper. According to our match prediction, Galle Gladiators are the favorite team who will win this match. There are many factors that make Galle Gladiators a favorite team to win this match. Some of the key factors are mentioned as under:

• Galle Gladiators have some best batters of white ball cricket in their squad
• Jaffna Kings is also a strong and experienced team
• Galle Gladiators have more depth in the batting and bowling
• The batting order of Jaffna Kings is not much stronger

Galle Gladiators is full of experienced and young players in the t20 format. The batting order of this team is also strong and some well-known hitters of the t20 format are part of the squad of this team, so the winning chances of today’s match for Galle Gladiators have been increased. The equation of who will win today’s cricket match prediction and who will win the cricket match today is mentioned as under.

Galle Gladiators have a 54% chance to win this match
Jaffna Kings has a 46% chance to win this match

The toss is going to play important in the result of every match of LPL T20 as we had observed in the previous matches. According to our toss prediction, the team who will win the toss will elect to bat first as chasing had been difficult in the most recent matches of LPL.

The 1st Match of the Lanka Premier League is going to be held at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota. We had observed in the previous matches played here that the pitch here at this venue is good for batting. The track is slower than the others we have seen and helps the spinners quite a bit. We are hoping that the surface is bound to get slower and be a bit more difficult for batting in this match. A score of 185 is going to be tough to chase.

The weather forecast for Hambantota is good for this cricket match. There are almost no chances of rain in the region and we are hopeful that we will have a full match to enjoy.

It will be updated shortly

• Date: Tuesday, 7th December 2022
• Time: 09:30 AM GMT / 03:00 PM LOCAL / 03:00 PM IST

• Stadium: Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium
• Location: Hambantota, Sri Lanka
• Opened: 2009
• Capacity: 34300
• Known as: Hambantota International Cricket Stadium
• Dimensions: 100m long, 100m wide
• Ends: Thanamalwila End, Sooriyawewa End
• Time Zone: UTC +05:30
• Floodlights: Yes
• Curator: Ravi Dissanayake

• Total matches: 7
• Matches won batting first: 5
• Matches won bowling first: 2
• Average 1st Inns scores: 130
• Average 2nd Inns scores: 103
• Highest total recorded: 182/4 (20 Ov) by SL vs ZIM
• The lowest total recorded: 95/10 (17.4 Ov) by PAK vs SL
• The highest score chased: 164/4 (18.1 Ov) by SL vs RSA
• The lowest score defended: 78/4 (7 Ov) by RSA vs SL

Thisara Perera (c), Shoaib Malik, Maheesh Theekshana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ashan Randika, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dunith Wellalage, Hardus Viljoen, Evin Lewis, Shahnawaz Dahani, Binura Fernando, Tristan Stubbs, Suminda Lakshan, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilshan Madushanka, Nipun Dananjaya, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Theivendiram Dinoshan.