England Lions win by seven wickets thanks to Rob Yates’ half-century

In their first-class warm-up at Worcester, Sri Lanka’s tourists were defeated by seven wickets, despite Rob Yates anchoring the England Lions with a half-century off 68 balls.

After bowling Sri Lanka out for 309 on the third afternoon, the Lions returned with victory in sight at 47 for 2, needing just 19.5 overs to complete the task on the last morning. They were chasing a modest 122 for win.

Rob Yates, who had reached the close on 17 not out, added 40 more runs at the top of the order.

Milan Rathnayake’s leg-before-womb decision to dismiss England’s Under-19 skipper Hamza Shaikh for 16 was Sri Lanka’s lone victory during the restricted day’s play.

Nevertheless, Yates was joined by James Rew, a new addition to the Under-19 squad, in an uninterrupted 53-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

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Rew ended up finishing on 23 not out from 41 balls after he successfully removed Dhananjaya de Silva’s winning single. Next, Sri Lanka travels to Emirates Old Trafford, the site of Wednesday’s first Test matchup between England and Sri Lanka.