The England Lions got their Tour of Sri Lanka off to a flying start in their only warm-up game against the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI ahead of the Unofficial Test series set to start next week.
Having won the toss, the visitors opted to bat but were on the backfoot straightaway as Kavindu Pathiratne sent Lions’ skipper and England Test Cap Haseeb Hameed back for a duck in the 1st over. The 20-year-old quick trapped Tom Haines LBW not long after to leave the Lions on 18/2 in the 5th over.
However, despite having the opposition in a spot of bother, the BP XI could not capitalize as the counterattack was begun by another England Test Cap, Alex Lees and Tom Abell, who appeared for the Dambulla Aura in last season’s LPL.
Read – Sahan Arachchige to lead SLC Board XI against England Lions
The pair put on a blistering 130-run partnership in 18 overs to wrest control away from the home side, with the type of batsmanship that has become synonymous with English cricket over the last year.
5 of the 9 batters used by the Lions crossed the 50-run mark, with Lees the only one to go to three figures. Notably, Lees (107), Jack Haynes (63) and Jamie Smith (50) all went at well over a run-a-ball as the visitors declared their innings midway through the 3rd session, having amassed 413 at 6.2 runs an over.
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Apart from Pathiratne, who was impressive with the new ball, the BP XI struggled to maintain any control on the English batters, conceding 27 extras not helping their cause.
The BP XI openers Lasith Croospulle and Nishan Madushka started in positive fashion as well, putting on 44 for the 1st wicket before the former fell off the bowling of Liam Patterson-White.
Madushka looked in sublime touch, ending the day on 56 off just 53 deliveries as the BP XI went to Stumps on 93/2 in 19.5 overs.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Lees | st Lahiru Udara b Tharindu Ratnayake | 103 | 97 | 12 | 2 | 106.19 |
| Haseeb Hameed | c Dushan Hemantha b Kavindu Pathirathna | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Tom Haines | lbw b Kavindu Pathirathna | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 120.00 |
| Tom Abell | b Tharindu Ratnayake | 57 | 58 | 11 | 0 | 98.28 |
| Josh Bohannon | b Nimesh Vimukthi | 58 | 75 | 7 | 0 | 77.33 |
| Lyndon James | lbw b Nimesh Vimukthi | 24 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 54.55 |
| Jack Haynes | not out | 63 | 56 | 4 | 1 | 112.50 |
| Jamie Smith | c Lahiru Udara b Kavindu Nadeeshan | 50 | 34 | 7 | 1 | 147.06 |
| Ollie Robinson | b Tharindu Ratnayake | 25 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 104.17 |
| Extras | 27 (b 4 , lb 10 , nb 12, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 413/8 (67 Overs, RR: 6.16) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kavindu Pathirathna | 7 | 0 | 40 | 2 | 5.71 | |
| Isitha Wijesundera | 7 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 2.00 | |
| Nimsara Atharagalla | 1.3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 10.00 | |
| Nimesh Vimukthi | 9 | 0 | 59 | 0 | 6.56 | |
| Kalana Perera | 7.3 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 4.11 | |
| Sahan Arachchige | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 15.50 | |
| Tharindu Ratnayake | 15 | 0 | 85 | 2 | 5.67 | |
| Janith Liyanage | 8 | 0 | 47 | 2 | 5.88 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 7 | 0 | 62 | 0 | 8.86 | |
| Kavindu Nadeeshan | 3 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 6.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | retired | 150 | 158 | 24 | 1 | 94.94 |
| Lasith Croospulle | c Jack Carson b Liam Patterson-White | 19 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 52.78 |
| Nimesh Vimukthi | b Jack Carson | 17 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 60.71 |
| Lahiru Udara | c Nathan Gilchrist b Jack Carson | 93 | 85 | 13 | 2 | 109.41 |
| Sahan Arachchige | c Tom Haines b Liam Patterson-White | 25 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 49.02 |
| Dunith wellalage | b Josh Tongue | 13 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 52.00 |
| Janith Liyanage | lbw b Josh Tongue | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Pasindu Sooriyabandara | lbw b Liam Patterson-White | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Avishka Tharindu | b Josh Tongue | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Nimsara Atharagalla | not out | 6 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Kavindu Pathirathna | not out | 4 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 23.53 |
| Extras | 21 (b 8 , lb 0 , nb 8, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 355/9 (72 Overs, RR: 4.93) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Cook | 11 | 0 | 52 | 0 | 4.73 | |
| Matt Fisher | 9.4 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 2.98 | |
| Liam Patterson-White | 16 | 4 | 80 | 3 | 5.00 | |
| Jack Carson | 14 | 1 | 73 | 2 | 5.21 | |
| Tom Hartley | 8 | 2 | 40 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Josh Tongue | 8 | 2 | 22 | 3 | 2.75 | |
| Nathan Gilchrist | 5 | 2 | 48 | 0 | 9.60 | |
| Tom Abell | 0.2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 20.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AZ Lees | retired | 27 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 122.73 |
| Haseeb Hameed | c Isitha Wijesundera b Kavindu Pathirathna | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Tom Haines | b Sahan Arachchige | 13 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 43.33 |
| Lyndon James | b Sahan Arachchige | 17 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 77.27 |
| Liam Patterson-White | c & b Nimesh Vimukthi | 26 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 76.47 |
| Ollie Robinson | c Isitha Wijesundera b Janith Liyanage | 39 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 156.00 |
| Jamie Smith | b Nimesh Vimukthi | 13 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 162.50 |
| Jack Haynes | c Dushan Hemantha b Isitha Wijesundera | 51 | 70 | 5 | 0 | 72.86 |
| Tom Abell | c Sahan Arachchige b Dushan Hemantha | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Josh Bohannon | c Lasith Croospulle b Isitha Wijesundera | 50 | 64 | 4 | 0 | 78.12 |
| Tom Hartley | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 11 (b 2 , lb 5 , nb 3, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 250/10 (47.4 Overs, RR: 5.24) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kavindu Pathirathna | 8 | 0 | 45 | 1 | 5.62 | |
| Isitha Wijesundera | 4.4 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 3.64 | |
| Sahan Arachchige | 7 | 0 | 50 | 2 | 7.14 | |
| Kalana Perera | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3.33 | |
| Janith Liyanage | 8 | 0 | 45 | 1 | 5.62 | |
| Nimesh Vimukthi | 11 | 0 | 46 | 2 | 4.18 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 5 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 3.20 | |
| Tharindu Ratnayake | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasith Croospulle | b Tom Hartley | 116 | 84 | 15 | 5 | 138.10 |
| Lahiru Udara | b Sam Cook | 25 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 113.64 |
| Avishka Tharindu | c Jack Carson b Liam Patterson-White | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sahan Arachchige | c & b Jack Carson | 22 | 46 | 3 | 0 | 47.83 |
| Janith Liyanage | c Jack Haynes b Josh Tongue | 42 | 59 | 7 | 0 | 71.19 |
| Dunith wellalage | c Sam Cook b Jack Carson | 19 | 35 | 2 | 1 | 54.29 |
| Pasindu Sooriyabandara | not out | 52 | 38 | 7 | 2 | 136.84 |
| Dushan Hemantha | not out | 23 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 164.29 |
| Extras | 10 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 4, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 309/6 (50.4 Overs, RR: 6.1) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Cook | 12 | 2 | 61 | 1 | 5.08 | |
| Josh Tongue | 9 | 2 | 46 | 1 | 5.11 | |
| Liam Patterson-White | 9 | 1 | 55 | 1 | 6.11 | |
| Jack Carson | 11 | 2 | 72 | 2 | 6.55 | |
| Tom Hartley | 7.4 | 0 | 60 | 1 | 8.11 | |
| Nathan Gilchrist | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5.50 | |
