Yorkshire's Joe Root inspired the England U19's to a comfortable 46-run victory over their Sri Lankan counterparts to level the two-match T20 series.

England batted first at Chester-le-Street and reached 164 for the loss of four wickets off their allotted 20 overs. Root was the mainstay of the innings reaching 59 not out off 57 balls while Lewis Gregory provided the firepower with a quick 55.

Sri Lanka got off to a terrible start losing their first wicket in the opening over of their reply. Kithuruwan Vithanage briefly gave the visitors hope, smashing three sixes on his way to 48 from 20 balls, but Sri Lanka were always playing catch-up and were bowled out inside 18 overs. Opening bowler Root contributed again with three wickets.

The ECB performance director David Parsons praised the England players for their comeback in the two match series after the Sri Lankan U19's had won the first clash convincingly by nine wickets.

"The team learnt some valuable lessons from the first match and it was good to see them respond and produce a much better batting performance today(Tuesday) including a record second wicket partnership between Joe Root and Lewis Gregory," said Parsons.

"This sets up a fascinating one-day series and the team can prepare for it knowing that they are capable of beating Sri Lanka but will need to consistently produce some of their very best cricket to win the series."

The teams now go head-to-head in a five-match one-day series starting in Cambridge on Saturday.