Riley and Billings play in England Performance Programme win in Sri Lanka

Kent bowler Adam Riley starred in an unusual all-spin attack and Billings batted in the England Performance Programme squadthat secured victory against Colombo Colts in Sri Lanka.

The Kent Academy graduate bowled alongside Samit Patel, Stephen Parry and Zafar Ansari as Colts Cricket Club fell 43 short of the EPP’s 50-over total of 223 in Colombo.

The EPP’s spinners and batsmen have been training in Colombo for the last two weeks and this was their first match after the first of two scheduled white-ball fixtures in Colombo was washed out.

Gary Ballance, captaining the EPP team against opposition who were finalising preparations for the local elite one-day competition, won the toss and chose to bat, and after the early loss of Jason Roy and James Vince in tricky conditions, joined his Yorkshire team-mate Alex Lees to lay a platform.

Lees top-scored with 58, Ballance fell for 35 and Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Adam Lyth and Tom Westley all made handy contributions, but England’s total fell well short of formidable.

Riley and Billings will stay in Sri Lanka for another week with the EPP concentrating on red-ball practice before joining the EPP fast bowlers for another training camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Kent assistant first team coach Matt Walker is working with the EPP seamers in South Africa on their batting.

The players return home for Christmas, before heading back to South Africa for a Lions tour early in 2015.