2026 Dambulla Sixers season
Lanka Premier League cricket team
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The 2026 season was Dambulla Sixers' sixth appearance in the Lanka Premier League (LPL). They were one of the five cricket teams that competed in the 2026 LPL. The team was captained by Dinesh Chandimal and coached by Rangana Herath. The team signed four players before the draft and fourteen players in the draft.
| 2026 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Dambulla players during a league stage match This file has an invalid non-free use claim and may be deleted after Friday, 4 September 2026. | |||
| Coach | Rangana Herath | ||
| Captain | Dinesh Chandimal | ||
| League stage | 5th place | ||
| Most runs | Reeza Hendricks (294)[1] | ||
| Most wickets | Dushmantha Chameera (12)[2] | ||
| Most catches | 5 players (3 each)[3] | ||
| Most wicket-keeping dismissals | Niroshan Dickwella (6)[4] | ||
| |||
Dambulla Sixers were the only team to be eliminated in the league stage and finished in last (fifth) place with only two wins. Reeza Hendricks scored the most runs (294) while Dushmantha Chameera took the most wickets (12) for Dambulla in the 2026 season.
Pre-season
The 2026 Lanka Premier League was the 6th edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league, organised by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The tournament featured five teams competing in 24 matches from 17 July to 8 August 2026.[5][6][7] Dambulla Sixers were previously runners-up in the 2023 season.[8] The team finished in last (5th) place in the previous season.[9]
Players' draft
In January 2026, the SLC announced that instead of an auction a players' draft would be held ahead of the 2026 season.[10] The players' draft was originally scheduled for 22 March 2026[11] but was postponed to 1 June 2026.[12] Each team was allowed to sign two overseas and two domestic players before the draft.[13][14] In the draft, each team was required to sign at least 14 players, with a maximum of 16 players under 10 categories, including 5 overseas players in 4 categories. One overseas player had to be from an associate country while two domestic players had to be under the age of 23.[15][16][17]
| Category | Domestic | Overseas |
|---|---|---|
| Icon | Dushmantha Chameera | Sahibzada Farhan |
| Star | Dinesh Chandimal | Reeza Hendricks |
| Category | Domestic | Overseas |
|---|---|---|
| Platinum | Maheesh Theekshana | Fazalhaq Farooqi |
| Gold | Niroshan Dickwella | Mohammad Wasim Jr. |
| Pavan Rathnayake | N/a | |
| Akila Dananjaya | ||
| Classic | Dhananjaya Lakshan | Gulbadin Naib |
| Ramesh Mendis | Dian Forrester | |
| Sachitha Jayathilake | N/a | |
| Emerging U23 | Vishwa Lahiru Kumara | N/a |
| Gayana Weerasinghe | ||
| Associate Star | N/a | Shadley van Schalkwyk |
| Optional Gold | N/a | N/a |
| Optional Classic |
Squad
- Players with international caps as of the start of the 2026 LPL are listed in bold.
- Ages are as of 17 July 2026.
- Withdrawn players are indicated by a dagger symbol (†) and placed at the bottom of the table.
| S/N | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Akila Dananjaya |  Sri Lanka | 4 October 1993 (aged 32) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break, off break | Domestic Gold | |
| 5 | Dushmantha Chameera | Sri Lanka | 11 January 1992 (aged 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | Domestic Icon | |
| 6 | Pavan Rathnayake | Sri Lanka | 24 August 2002 (aged 23) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break, leg break | Domestic Gold | |
| 14 | Gulbadin Naib |  Afghanistan | 4 June 1991 (aged 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Overseas Classic | Overseas |
| 15 | Vishwa Lahiru Kumara | Sri Lanka | 15 November 2004 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | Emerging U23 | |
| 16 | Shadley van Schalkwyk |  United States | 5 August 1988 (aged 37) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | Associate Star | Overseas |
| 17 | Reeza Hendricks |  South Africa | 14 August 1989 (aged 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas Star | Overseas |
| 24 | Sikandar Raza |  Zimbabwe | 24 April 1986 (aged 40) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break, leg break | Overseas Platinum | Overseas; replacement[a] |
| 25 | Ramesh Mendis | Sri Lanka | 7 July 1995 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Domestic Classic | |
| 33 | Gayana Weerasinghe | Sri Lanka | 16 December 2004 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Emerging U23 | |
| 48 | Niroshan Dickwella | Sri Lanka | 23 June 1993 (aged 33) | Left-handed | N/a | Domestic Gold | |
| 51 | Sahibzada Farhan |  Pakistan | 6 March 1996 (aged 30) | Right-handed | N/a | Overseas Icon | Overseas |
| 56 | Dinesh Chandimal | Sri Lanka | 18 November 1989 (aged 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Domestic Star | Captain[19] |
| 61 | Maheesh Theekshana | Sri Lanka | 1 August 2000 (aged 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Domestic Platinum | |
| 65 | Marques Ackerman | South Africa | 1 March 1996 (aged 30) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas Classic | Overseas; replacement[b] |
| 68 | Sachitha Jayathilake | Sri Lanka | 24 February 1997 (aged 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | Domestic Classic | |
| 69 | Dhananjaya Lakshan | Sri Lanka | 5 October 1998 (aged 27) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Domestic Classic | |
| 74 | Mohammad Wasim Jr. | Pakistan | 25 August 2001 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas Gold | Overseas |
| 83 | Fazalhaq Farooqi † | Afghanistan | 22 September 2000 (aged 25) | Right-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | Overseas Platinum | Overseas; withdrawn[a] |
| N/a | Dian Forrester † | South Africa | 7 June 2000 (aged 26) | Left-handed | Right-arm fast | Overseas Classic | Overseas; withdrawn[b] |
- Sikandar Raza replaced Fazalhaq Farooqi, after the latter withdrew due to national duty.[20][21]
- Marques Ackerman replaced Dian Forrester, after the latter withdrew due to participating in GSL.[22]
Support staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Rangana Herath |
| Bowling coach | Ajith Ekanayake |
| Fielding coach | Ruvin Peiris |
League stage
This file has an invalid non-free use claim and may be deleted after Friday, 4 September 2026.
Dambulla Sixers began their season with a win against Kandy Royals.[26] They lost their next two matches to Jaffna Kings in their special "Pink Match"[27][25] and Kandy[28] but won against Galle Gallants.[29] They lost their next three matches to Colombo Kaps,[30] Galle[31] and Colombo again[32] and their last match of the season against Jaffna was cancelled midway due to rain, and both teams were awarded a point each.[33] They finished the league stage at last place with five points and were eliminated.[34][35]
Points table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaffna Kings (R) | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0.385 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Galle Gallants (C) | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0.604 | |
| 3 | Colombo Kaps | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0.108 | Advanced to Eliminator |
| 4 | Kandy Royals | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | −0.567 | |
| 5 | Dambulla Sixers | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | −0.565 | Eliminated |
League progression
| Win | Loss | No result |
- Note: The total points at the end of each group match are listed.
- Note: Click on the points (group matches) or W/L (playoffs) to see the match summary.
Fixtures
Dambulla Sixers 205/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Kandy Royals 187/6 (20 overs) |
- Dambulla Sixers won the toss and elected to bat.
- Reeza Hendricks and Gulbadin Naib (Dambulla Sixers) recorded the highest partnership for the 7th wicket (94* runs) in the LPL.[36]
Dambulla Sixers 130 (19.3 overs) |
v |
Jaffna Kings 133/5 (19 overs) |
- Jaffna Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Kandy Royals 194/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Dambulla Sixers 151/8 (20 overs) |
- Dambulla Sixers won the toss and elected to field.
Galle Gallants 178/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Dambulla Sixers 180/4 (16.1 overs) |
- Dambulla Sixers won the toss and elected to field.
Colombo Kaps 197/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Dambulla Sixers 176/8 (20 overs) |
- Dambulla Sixers won the toss and elected to field.
Galle Gallants 220/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Dambulla Sixers 176/7 (20 overs) |
- Galle Gallants won the toss and elected to bat.
Dambulla Sixers 174/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Colombo Kaps 177/6 (19 overs) |
- Dambulla Sixers won the toss and elected to bat.
Dambulla Sixers 203/8 (20 overs) |
v |
|
- Jaffna Kings won the toss and elected to field.
- No further play was possible due to rain.
Statistics
| Runs | Player |
|---|---|
| 294 | Reeza Hendricks |
| 172 | Pavan Rathnayake |
| 163 | Gulbadin Naib |
| 158 | Sahibzada Farhan |
| 115 | Marques Ackerman |
| Wickets | Player |
|---|---|
| 12 | Dushmantha Chameera |
| 6 | Fazalhaq Farooqi |
| 4 | Maheesh Theekshana |
| Gulbadin Naib | |
| Mohammad Wasim Jr. |