IAN Bell drew on his Test match pedigree with a patient, unbeaten hundred as England A began the Sri Lanka leg of their cricket tour with an encouraging 272-4 on day one of four against the hosts.

Bell, who made 70 in his only Test opportunity so far - against West Indies at The Oval last September - dug in for a captain's innings to put the tourists in a strong position against Sri Lanka A.

He finished the day unbeaten on 128 and shared century stands with opener Alastair Cook (63) and Owais Shah (52). Tweet