The 2024 season of Sri Lanka’s top domestic T20 competition, the Lanka Premier League, now have an additional rule known as ‘Power Blast’.

The Lanka Premier League added a fresh concept to boost excitement in the last overs of a game. Under the new rule, the Lanka Premier League(LPL) included two extra powerplay overs in the last few overs of each inning. Sri Lankan franchise LPL started its 5th season on 1 July 2024.

This new Lanka Premier League rule includes two “power blast overs” on the 16th and 17th overs of each inning, with a maximum of four fielders outside the 30-yard circle. This new power play will be added to the regular power play, which occurs in the first six overs of an inning.

What is Power Blast over in the Lanka Premier League 2024?

According to the Lanka Premier League, the “power blast overs” will provide “a stronger and exciting phase to the game”. Samantha Dodanwela, the LPL tournament director stated, “We decided to bring this rule in order to create more excitement to the league, which is growing year by year.” 

“This new introduction is sure to generate a lot of excitement among the fans, and the teams will need to strategize effectively to make the most of this period,” the director added. 

The 2024 season of the tournament features 20 league matches between five teams. Following the league round, the LPL event will feature three playoff games and a final. Each team will play each other twice during the league stage before the top four teams advance to the playoffs.

The first season of the league was scheduled to run from August 18 to September 10, 2018, but it was postponed several times due to administrative concerns within Sri Lanka Cricket. During the COVID-19 epidemic, SLC stated in June 2020 that the tournament would begin on August 28, 2020, with 70 overseas players expressing interest in participating. Ravin Wickramaratne, SLC’s Vice President, was formally appointed tournament director in August 2020. After being deferred due to pandemic-related limitations, the first season premiered on November 26, 2020.

Samantha Dodanwala was named the official LPL tournament director in May 2022. The third edition was originally slated for August 2022 but was postponed due to the current Sri Lankan economic crisis and the resulting 2022 Sri Lankan protests, despite the fact that the player draft had already taken place.

The Jaffna team has won three league titles, whereas the Kandy franchise has only one. The Jaffna Stallions won their first season, defeating the Galle Gladiators by 53 runs in the final. The following season, Jaffna Kings defeated Galle by 23 runs, and in 2022, they defeated Colombo Stars by two wickets to claim their third straight title.

Also Read: LPL 2024: Here’s How Prabath Jayasuriya Is Carrying the Legacy of Sri Lankan Spin Bowling