Fernando blasts Sri Lanka to victory

Sri Lanka 281 for 6 (Karunaratne 56, Fernando) defeated England 221 (Chopra 77, Wright 47, Serasinghe 4 for 53) by 60 runs
Scorecard

England's miserable time on the subcontinent continued with their fourth successive defeat in the triangular tournament, this time to Sri Lanka. They now need unlikely victories with bonus points in their remaining two matches - and for Bangladesh to win tomorrow - to make the final. Chance would be a fine thing ... but the chances are it will be Sri Lanka and the hosts Bangladesh who contest the final on December 14th.

Before then England must play both teams once again and, realistically, only pride at stake. But any pride they can salvage at all will act as at least some fillip to them after Sri Lanka beat them by a whopping 60 runs to make it nine defeats out of nine matches this tour. Just like their senior counterparts, they are finding life on the subcontinent somewhat testing.

Hans Fernando's unbeaten century helped to take Sri Lanka to 281 for 6 from their 50 overs. His 119 not out came from 106 balls and included 15 fours. It took him two hours. The opener Dimuth Karunaratne piled on the misery with 56 from 80 balls. Rory Hamilton-Brown was England's most successful bowler, with two wickets for 59 runs from his ten overs.

England's reply got off to a creditable start, with Varun Chopra making his highest total this tournament, 77. Ben Wright added 47 before he was caught and bowled by Sacithra Serasinghe, who bagged 4 for 53. Rajeeva Weerasinghe also chipped in with an impressive 3 for 22 from 8.1 overs as England crumbled in the face of a mountainous target.