Freddie McCann's superb 174 from 139 balls catapulted England Men U19s to a 30-run victory which levelled their three-match Youth ODI series against Sri Lanka.
The Nottinghamshire left-hander, playing just his second Young Lions game, was the star of a high-scoring contest as the hosts piled up 360 for seven at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.
Sri Lanka made a positive start to the chase - they were 53 runs ahead of England’s score at the halfway stage – but McCann again played a key role taking a diving outfield catch to remove Gayana Weerasinghe after he had added 110 in 14 overs with Pulindu Perera.
England's disciplined attack then claimed wickets at regular intervals with skipper Luc Benkenstein returning four for 77 while Taz Ali's relatively miserly two for 41 from 10 overs provide crucial.
It was all about McCann's contribution with the bat though, the 19-year-old crunched 22 fours and three sixes, while Noah Thain passed fifty for the second successive game.
“I was very proud of that innings, in only my second official game for the Under 19s," McCann said. "I’m really happy we managed to put a win on the board to level the series. Hopefully we can win it here on Wednesday."
The England innings had been based around a partnership of 127 in 24 overs between McCann and Thain in which the Sri Lankan fielders were driven to distraction – quite literally.
In the course of the partnership, with the fielders becoming increasingly vociferous, the umpires Jack Shantry and Nigel Llong spoke with captain Dinura Kalupahana, and told him that they had awarded England five penalty runs for distracting behaviour.
England had made a steady start and had scored 36 when Keshana Fonseka was caught in the slips off the last ball of the sixth over, the first bowled by Kalupahana.
The 50 came up in the eighth and at the halfway stage England were 120 for one – they would score 240 from the second 25 overs.
While they were together, Essex’s Thain was even more impressively commanding than McCann. He swept Paveen Maneesha to long leg for four to reach his fifty from 60 deliveries and when he was out, pulling Kalupahana to backwared square-leg, he had scored 66 from 76 balls, with eight fours and a six.
McCann, who had reached his century from 97 balls, then accelerated away, so that his final figures were 174 off 139 balls.
There were cameos from Charlie Allison (46 off 43) and Dom Kelly, who hit four fours and two sixes in an 11-ball 32 not out. Kalupahana was the most successful Sri Lankan bowler with five for 81 from his 10 overs.
Sri Lanka made a positive start to their innings as Weerasinghe and Perera got the tourists ahead of the rate as they searched for a series-clinching win.
Farhan Ahmed broke their stand thanks to McCann's outfield catch, and four overs later Perera was lbw to Ali for 64 off 59 balls.
Sri Lanka were unable to find another batsmen capable of dominating the England bowlers as the visitors were bowled out for 330 in 49.2 overs.