The England Lions' disastrous tour of Australia continued on Monday with a seventh straight loss against Australia A at the SCG.
The result was the tourists' fourth defeat in a row to Australia's second XI after they suffered three consecutive losses to Victorian teams prior to the five-match unofficial one-day international series.
Australia A won the latest clash between the two sides by 45 runs after opener Aaron Finch (109 off 117 balls) propelled them to 8-285 from their 50 overs.
In response, the Lions could only muster 9-240 (all out) with Alister McDermott (3-35 off nine overs) and Gurinder Sandhu (3-36 off eight) doing most of the damage.
Australia A captain Finch won the toss, elected to bat first and justified his own decision by posting a sparkling century - his third List A ton of the summer after scintillating knocks of 154 and 140 with Victoria earlier in the season.
Finch's knock included 10 fours and a six and the Melbourne Renegades star combined with Adam Voges (81 off 105) to post a crucial 177-run third-wicket partnership after the hosts were reduced to 2-38 in the eighth over.
Toby Roland-Jones (3-58 off nine) was the pick of the Lions' bowlers and Chris Wright (2-53 off nine) was the other multiple wicket-taker.
In response, the England Lions struggled to garner any genuine momentum and just as it looked like they were set for a significant partnership, a wicket would invariably fall.
Gary Ballance (73 off 95) was their best performer but when he retired hurt, he took his side's hopes with him to the pavilion as the Lions lost their last four wickets for 18 runs - including 3-1.
Several Lions batsmen made starts, most notably Varun Chopra (41 off 57), but none of them could go on with it and post a meaningful score.
The tourists will attempt to salvage something from their woeful tour when they meet Australia A in the fifth and final match on Friday in Sydney.
First Posted 25 February, 2013 7:40PM AEST
