LIAM Livingstone's impressive England Lions tour of Sri Lanka continued as he helped them to victory in Colombo.

The Barrow big-hitter struck the winning runs against Sri Lanka A, smiting the ball straight back down the ground in the fourth one-day series match.

Livingstone finished on 15 not out, after Daniel Bell-Drummond scored his second Lions century, and shared a record-breaking 200 partnership with Tom Alsop to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the five-match series.

Earlier, the Lancashire man had continued his impressive spin bowling displays during the tour, ending with figures of two for 41 from his 10 overs.

Chasing 243, the Lions were in trouble at 12 for two when Alsop joined Bell-Drummond, after the loss of openers Ben Duckett and Keaton Jennings in the same over from Vikum Sanjaya.

But by the time Alsop was dismissed for 96, they were within sight of a modest victory target, after a good all-round bowling performance in which Toby Roland-Jones and the debutant Graeme White each took three wickets.

Alsop and Bell-Drummond's partnership of exactly 200 was a new record for the third wicket in List A cricket for the Lions, or the England A and B teams that preceded them, beating 194 between Ravi Bopara and James Taylor also against Sri Lanka A in Worcester in 2014.

Bell-Drummond reached his century in the next over, after facing 109 balls and stroking 11 boundaries.

He was dismissed later in the over, bowled by the left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva, who was one of several new faces in a reshaped Sri Lanka A team.

Joe Clarke also fell cheaply as the Lions experienced a slight wobble, but Livingstone secured the win by five wickets with 16 balls to spare with a powerful straight six which clattered into the scoreboard.

The series concludes on Saturday, also at the Colombo Cricket Club ground on Maitland Crescent.

Roland-Jones and White each took three wickets in a battling Lions performance in the field after Jennings had lost his first toss of the series, with the new Sri Lanka A captain Ashan Priyanjan choosing to bat.

Danusha Gunathilaka, the left-handed opener who scored an unbeaten century in the second match of the series in Dambulla, looked in ominous touch again, dominating an opening stand of 68 inside nine overs.

It was Livingstone who made the crucial breakthrough with his off-spin which has developed so much with the Lions this winter.

He bowled Gunathilaka for 44 from 29 balls, then followed up with the wicket of his opening partner Roy Chandraguptha, another left-hander who was bowled behind his legs as he tried to sweep.

Roland-Jones and White then combined effectively to share six wickets for 59 as the Sri Lankans slipped from 172 for two to 231 for eight.

Sam Curran chipped in with the wicket of Rambith Rambukwella, and Craig Overton wrapped things up with a deserved wicket after another fine performance by the Somerset seamer, who has been the Lions’ most consistent bowler in the series.