Brandon bowler Tymal Mills took a wicket to help England Lions win the first of their three-match series against Sri Lanka A on Saturday.

The Lions wrapped up an 167-run win on the fourth and final day, bowling Sri Lanka out for 311 as they chased 479.

Fast bowler Mills, who plays county cricket for Essex, took the wicket of Dhammika Prasad to finish with second innings figures of 33 runs conceded for one wicket from 15 overs, with four maidens.

The 21-year-old had helped put England in control in Pallekele on Friday. Captain Chris Woakes (92no) shared an eighth-wicket stand of 155 in only 33 overs with Scott Borthwick (64) on the third day, Woakes hitting eight fours from 130 balls and Borthwick five from 96 in the Lions' 319 for eight declared second innings.

That saw Mills miss out on a chance to bat, following a knock of 18 in the first innings as part of a 36-run stand for the final wicket alongside Graham Onions.

The declaration left Sri Lanka a highly-improbable target of 479 to win, which they could not reach.

In the first innings Mills, who shadowed the England senior team Down Under during this winter's Ashes defeat, finished with figures of 38 for no wicket from 11 overs in his first innings.

Mills is writing an online blog for the England and Wales Cricket Board's website during the tour.

He wrote: 'Personally, I had a few good days training in the nets leading up to the match and was pleased to be selected.

'Although I didn't end up taking the amount of wickets I would have liked, I was pleased with how I bowled as part of our four-man pace attack which was led brilliantly by the skipper Chris Woakes who set the tone with the new ball.

'It was a hard-fought match that went into the afternoon on day four. We had made all the running and knew that if we stuck in we would get our rewards and that happened following a hostile spell from Liam Plunkett to remove their set batsmen and wrap up the victory shortly after.'

The Lions are now preparing for the second match of the series to get under way on Wednesday.

Mills added: 'We have moved to the more tropical climate of Dambulla where I am now rooming with my Essex team-mate Ben Foakes.

'We were greeted by a rather large iguana as we were walking to our rooms which was a shock to the system!

'Graham Gooch (batting coach) also joins up with us this week to strengthen the Essex contingent which is always nice.'