Tom Helm takes five wickets as England Lions restore pride against Sri Lanka A

Tom Helm took five wickets as England Lions won the final match of their one-day series against Sri Lanka A in Colombo.

After the home side had been dismissed for 192, England reached 124 for five in their run-chase before bad weather brought play to a premature end.

With no more action possible, England's target was revised to 113 under the Duckworth-Lewis method, handing them a second win in succession. However, Sri Lanka had already won the series after taking the first three matches.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, the home side made a solid start before Helm took two wickets in two balls in his first over, removing Ron Chandraguptha for 10 and Sadeera Samarawickrama for a golden duck.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, although opener Danushka Gunathilaka did at least make 51 from 58 balls before being bowled by Graeme White.

Helm returned to the attack to claim three more wickets and finish with figures of five for 33 as Sri Lanka were bowled out in 46.1 overs.

England seemed to be cruising to a comfortable victory when openers Keaton Jennings and Ben Duckett put on 54 inside nine overs, but Duckett's dismissal led to a wobble as the tourists were reduced to 90 for four.

Jennings was fourth out for 38 from 46 balls, but Ben Foakes kept the Lions narrowly ahead on D-L calculations until the umpires stopped play for safety reasons as thunder and lightning surrounded the ground.

PA