Colombo, Dec 6 (TIWN) The Twenty20 fever officially hit the islands of Sri Lanka as the second season of the Lanka Premier League took off with a glitzy opening ceremony in front of a host of fans at the R. Premadasa Stadium here.

Amongst the colour and fervour of the massive opening ceremony, the Lanka Premier League witnessed the presence of Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Namal Rajapaksa and General Shavendra Silva here on Sunday night.  Paralympic Gold Medalist Dinesh Priyantha also graced the event and declared the T20 franchise tournament open.  Commenting on the occassion, Angelo Mathews, Captain of Colombo Stars and Sri Lankan legend said, "You know, all the nations are having this kind of a tournament and it benefits the country's cricket because you produce so many young players and you give them the exposure playing with international stars so yeah, it's a great exposure for all of them. LPL is a great platform for the budding stars and it is going to benefit Sri Lanka cricket a lot."  The Lanka Premier League will have five teams competing for the trophy - Galle Gladiators, Jaffna Kings, Dambulla Giants, Kandy Warriors and Colombo Stars.  The Galle Gladiators gained the first mover advantage in the opening match of the league on Sunday after they defeated Jaffna Kings by 54 runs in Colombo. Gladiators Captain Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored 56 runs off 31 runs and helped his team post a total of 164/7.