Sri Lanka lose rain-affected warm-up against England Lions

Paul Walter’s explosive unbeaten 34 off just 20 balls propelled the England Lions to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method in a rain-affected second T20 warm-up match at Beckenham. Opting to field first after winning the toss in a 13-player-a-side match (with 11 allowed to bat), England Lions restricted Sri Lanka to 156 for 9 in their 20 overs. Sri Lanka got off to a blistering start, racing to 70 for 1 at the end of the six-over powerplay. Pathum Nissanka set the tempo early with a crisp 23 before falling to Saqib Mahmood, caught by Mason Crane. Kamil Mishara picked up where Nissanka left off, top-scoring for the tourists with an aggressive 31 off 17 deliveries. However, his dismissal—holed out to Mason Crane and caught on the boundary rope by Ben Mayes—triggered a middle-order collapse. Crane was the pick of the Lions' bowlers, finishing with figures of 2 for 20. He got rid of Dasun Shanaka (13) while James Coles squeezed the scoring rate by dismissing Lahiru Udara (13) and Kamindu Mendis (2). Janith Liyanage (5) fell shortly after, caught by Walter off Crane. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka contributed 23 before being caught by Walter off Henry Crocombe. A late cameo from Tharindu Ratnayake, who smashed two sixes off Tom Hartley in a quickfire 22, helped lift Sri Lanka past 150 before he was caught and bowled. Dunith Wellalage was run out for 10 in the final over, leaving Maheesh Theekshana (1*) and Dushmantha Chameera (0*) to close out the innings at 156 for 9. Rain interrupted proceedings during the innings break, setting up a moving target for the home side. Set an initial DLS-adjusted target of 108 from 12 overs, England Lions openers Walter and Ben McKinney got off to a flying start, charging to 43 without loss in 3.4 overs. When heavy rain forced another delay, the target was further revised to 73 from eight overs, effectively leaving the Lions needing 27 off 22 balls. Although McKinney was caught by Eshan Malinga off Maheesh Theekshana for 19, Mayes joined Walter to keep the chase on track with a neat 10 off seven balls. Walter then put an emphatic seal on the contest, hoisting Dushmantha Chameera over backward square for a towering six to wrap up the chase with 10 balls to spare.