Malan 185 leads Lions rout of Sri Lanka A

Saturday, 23 July 2016 00:00 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ESPNCricinfo: Dawid Malan rewrote the record books as England Lions made it two wins out of two in the 50-over Tri-Series by crushing Sri Lanka A in Northampton as comfortably as they had beaten Pakistan A in the opener in Cheltenham on Tuesday.

Malan, who is leading the Lions for the first time in this series after his impressive performances in the winter, struck an unbeaten 185 from 126 balls with 16 fours and eight sixes - a new record for the Lions or England A in List A cricket, beating 168 by Ravi 7Bopara against West Indies A in Worcester in 2010.

With Daniel Bell-Drummond, Ben Duckett and Sam Billings adding half centuries, the Lions piled up 393 for 5 in their 50 overs after Malan had won the toss and chosen to bat - another Lions List A record, beating 378 for 6 against South Africa A in the Pretoria township of Mamelodi in January 2014, when Ben Stokes did most of the damage. The Sri Lankans made a bold start to their reply, as Niroshan Dickwella, a left-hander who has played four Tests and was a member of their squad for the World T20 earlier this year, raced to a 36-ball half century.

Angelo Perera and captain Ashan Priyanjan steadied the Sri Lanka innings with a stand of 72, but the Lions remained well in control when drizzle set in - with 164 for 4 after 30 overs, the Sri Lankans were 88 runs short on the Duckworth-Lewis Method.

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