Tom Alsop had mixed feelings after going agonisingly close to a maiden Lions century in Colombo  – but the positives definitely outweighed the negatives.

The 21-year-old had been growing increasingly frustrated by his inability to convert promising starts to a substantial score on the Lions tour.

So although he was disappointed to fall for 96, there was ample compensation in having made a significant contribution to the Lions’ first win of their one-day series against Sri Lanka A – sharing a record-breaking third-wicket stand of 200 with Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond.

“Obviously on a personal note it is frustrating – but I’d take 96 over what I’ve been getting previously,” he said.

“It’s my first time in sub-continent cricket, it’s been a hard learning curve, and it’s been frustrating getting starts and not finding ways of going on.

"Today wasn’t quite the perfect innings, but it was good to get a score and nice to spend some time in the middle with Deebs and win the game.”

Bell-Drummond praised Alsop for playing the leading role for much of the partnership, as he hit a number of crucial boundaries against the Sri Lankan spinners, lofting them over mid wicket or occasionally playing a reverse sweep.

“Tom played really nicely and got the innings moving,” said Bell-Drummond.

“There were periods where they were bowling nicely and we were feeling it a bit, and then Tom kickstarted the partnership by piercing the inner ring and taking it to them. I was able to play my own game, tick it over until I fully got in, and then I was able to catch up the scoring.”

Bell-Drummond and Alsop are both good friends of Michael Carberry, who previously played for Kent and shares the same South London roots as Bell-Drummond.

“I really enjoyed batting with Deebs,” said Alsop – who also took two more sharp catches to make it five in the last two games.

“We get on really well, we’re both Carbs’ boys, so it was good to spend some time with him out there.”

The series concludes in Colombo on Saturday before Bell-Drummond and Alsop head for Dubai to play for the South in the new North-South Series.