THE second season of the franchise-based Jamaica Premier League Twenty20 (JPL T20) competition gets under way today with three games being played across two venues.

The champions University Dynamites will begin the defence of their title against Mandeville Thunder in the second match of the double-header at Melbourne Cricket Club, starting at 1:30 pm.

The 9:30 am game at the venue will see Spanish Town Titans facing Kingston Hurricanes.

In the lone match at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, the MoBay Sixers will oppose the Ocho Rios Chargers at 1:30 pm.

Jon-Ross Campbell, the captain of the Dynamites, told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday that he is expecting teams “to come harder this time” to knock the champions off their perch.

The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), through the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), has extended its partnership with the Jamaica Cricket Association for the six-team tournament, which will last a month. The TEF is investing over $5 million towards the 2013 edition.

The top team at the end of the preliminaries and the winner of the second and third place play-off match will contest the final.

Two teams that participated in 2012 — the May Pen Earthquakes and Half-Way-Tree Sparks — have not been entered this year as organisers seek to concentrate high-quality players across fewer franchises.