England Under-19 lost by six wickets to Sri Lanka Under-19 in their final warm-up match before the start of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Having won the toss and decided to bat first, England made a solid start with Kadeer Ali (37) and Nick Compton (29) putting on 60 for the first wicket. Five run outs hampered England's innings and the team was dismissed for 178 in 49.1 overs. Sri Lankan bowlers Ranawake and Fernando took two wickets each.

Chasing 179 in 50 overs, Sri Lanka passed the total in 40 overs with six wickets remaining with opening batsman, Tharanga, unbeaten on 86 at the end. Christopher Gilbert, Bilal Shafayat and Samit Patel took a wicket each.

England Under-19s start their World Cup campaign against Nepal Under-19 on Monday 21st January. The team's other two first round group matches are against Papua New Guinea Under-19 on Wednesday 23rd January and against Pakistan Under-19 on Friday 25th January.

© England & Wales Cricket Board