Sri Lanka A ease to six-wicket win over England Lions; Scotland lose to Nepal
- Planet Sport writer
- 21 February 2023
Sri Lanka A eased to a six-wicket win over England Lions in Colombo and earned a 2-1 series victory, while Scotland lost by two wickets to Nepal in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match.
Nipun Dhananjaya top-scored with 66 for the hosts as they knocked off the Lions' below-par total of 166 with 17.5 overs to spare.
England won the toss and elected to bat first and the opening partnership from Jack Haynes and Jacob Bethell reached 22 before the former was dismissed on 13 when he nicked behind off Isitha Wijesundera.
Bethell top-scored for the tourists with a half-century but England were reduced to 64 for three when Sam Hain and Tom Prest lost their wickets.
Opener Bethell departed for 50 and the middle order collapsed as the Lions slumped from 92 for four to 127 for seven in the space of 12 overs.
Jordan Cox (31), Saqib Mahmood (1) and Tom Hartley (22) also tumbled as England were bowled out with five overs of their innings still to spare.
England needed a fast start and got one when Lancashire duo Mahmood and Hartley dismissed Lasith Croospulle and Nuwanidu Fernando respectively with just 28 on the board.
Lahiru Udara and Sadeera Samarawickrama both followed the openers back into the shed courtesy of Mason Crane's bowling with Sri Lanka 102 for four, still needing 65 more runs for the win.
But, Dhananjaya's ever-presence at the crease, alongside a healthy contribution from Sahan Arachchige guided Sri Lanka to a series victory.
Elsewhere, Scotland lost by two wickets to Nepal in their final ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 match in Kirtipur.
The Scots, who had already secured top place in the section last week, batted first at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground and ran up 212.
George Munsey was the top scorer with 60 while Matthew Cross reached 42 and Brandon McMullen scored 31, as Sandeep Lamichhane took four wickets.
Captain Rohit Paudel drove his side towards victory when it was Nepal's turn to bat.
Mark Watt took three wickets for 29 but Paudel was 95 not out as Nepal reached 213 for eight with 35 balls remaining.
