Sibley and Lawrence hit centuries for England Lions on day one against Australia A at MCG

SCORECARD​

​Dom Sibley and Dan Lawrence continued their excellent form, both hitting unbeaten centuries against Australia A on day one of the day/night match at the MCG as England Lions finished on 274 for three.

Put into bat by the hosts, captained by Moises Henriques, England fell to 55 for three before Sibley and Lawrence came together at the crease.

Zak Crawley reached 18 before Jackson Bird dismissed him in the ninth over, caught behind by Josh Inglis. Captain Keaton Jennings then added 27 with Sibley before the Lancashire batsman was caught-and-bowled by Jack Wildermuth for 14.

Sam Northeast fell in the same way in the Queensland all-rounder’s next over having scored just one, to bring Lawrence to the crease. The Essex man, off the back of 190 against Cricket Australia XI last week, quickly knuckled down to build a partnership with Sibley.

Warwickshire's Sibley also reached three figures against CA XI in Hobart and the pair frustrated the Australia A attack as the floodlights took hold.

Both men reached three figures in the final ten overs of the day; Lawrence first and followed shortly after by Sibley. As the day came to a close, Lawrence opened his arms slightly, hitting Bird for 16 runs in the penultimate over to take him to 125, with Sibley ending the day on 108 – their partnership unbeaten on 219.

QUOTES

Dom Sibley said: “I’m really pleased to be able to carry on my good form and to help put the team in a strong position in the match.

“The conditions are tough and playing against a quality attack with a pink ball under floodlights is a new experience for us as a team. It has been a great learning experience so far and I’m delighted to have been able to make the most of it and put on a really good partnership with Dan.

“Hopefully we can push on tomorrow to build a competitive score and give our bowlers something to work with.”