England Lions: Liam Livingstone matches feat achieved by Kevin Pietersen - BBC Sport
England Lions lose their second four-day match with Sri Lanka A, but Liam Livingstone matches a feat achieved by Kevin Pietersen.
Last updated on .From the section Cricket

England Lions lost their second four-day match with Sri Lanka A, but batsman Liam Livingstone matched a feat only Kevin Pietersen had achieved before.

Livingstone joined Pietersen as the second batsman in the 35-year history of England B, England A and England Lions cricket to score a century in each innings of a first-class match.

The Lancashire 23-year-old scored 140 not out, following a first-innings 105.

But Sri Lanka squared the two-match series with a three-wicket victory.

After Sri Lanka followed England's 353 with a score of 548, the visitors were bowled out for 284, leaving the hosts requiring 90 to win from the final day's evening session.

Malinda Pushpakumara, who took 13 wickets in the match, hit the winning runs, while Surrey wicketkeeper Ben Foakes claimed his 10th dismissal - five in each innings - which broke the previous record for the Lions and their predecessors, set by Steve Rhodes against Transvaal in 1993.

Lions head coach Andy Flower said: "They were good dismissals - it's not like they were all straightforward nicks. A number of them were standing up to the wicket, both stumpings and catches, and Ben took one of the best catches I've seen from a wicketkeeper diving to his right - and that was in the 128th over.

"The other stand-out was Livingstone. Some of the things he's been working on in the training camps seem to have come to the fore in his play of spin. It was a really great performance on a typical sub-continental wicket."

England Lions' five-match one-day series with Sri Lanka A starts in Dambulla on Friday.