Writing a new chapter in the history of Sri Lankan Cricket, the first major cricket tournament in the war affected Northern part of Sri Lanka started earlier last week bringing together cricket teams from all over Jaffna under one banner to play for one trophy.
The Jaffna Premier League also now known as the JPL in social media is organized by the UR Friend Foundation with the sponsorship of Vizz Mobile UK was started on the 27th of May 2012 at the Jaffna Hindu College Grounds. The top 8 cricket teams in the Jaffna District were chosen to participate in this inaugural tournament.
The tournament was flagged off last week by the Governor of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka and also witnessed the first match being played. The tournament which is of the Twenty20 format is now currently in its early stages.
The eight teams that are contesting in the tournament are Jolly Stars Sports Club, Johnians’ Sports Club, Patrician Sports Club, KCCC Sports Club, Grass Hoppes’ Sports Club, Manipay Parries Sports Club, Centralites’ Sports Club and Jaffna Central Sports Club and these teams will be playing for the JPL Cup.
The tournament is held in a league format with the teams being divided into two groups of 4 teams each. 7 matches have been played in the tournament so far and more matches are to be played in the coming few days.
The points table of the JPL as of 5th June 2012 stands as follows:
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tie | Points | NRR |
| GROUP A | ||||||
| Jolly Stars SC | 2 | 2 | - | - | 4 | +1.477 |
| Jaffna Central SC | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 | +1.76 |
| Johnians’ SC | 1 | - | 1 | - | 0 | +1.110 |
| Grass Hoppes’ SC | 2 | - | 2 | - | 0 | -0.773 |
| GROUP B | ||||||
| Centralites’ SC | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 | +1.814 |
| KCCC SC | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 | +1.125 |
| Patrician SC | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 | +1.125 |
| Manipay Parries SC | 1 | - | 1 | - | 0 | +1.067 |
Picture Credit : www.np.gov.lk
Picture Credit : http://www.tamilstarmedia.com
For those who are interested, the JPL also has an Official Theme Song which can be listened to in the video below.
Stay tuned with CricTurf as we prepare to bring to you the latest information from the JPL.
© Cricturf | Ahamed Nishadh
