Hampshire's Brad Taylor reflected on a poor England batting performance that resulted in a heavy defeat by Sri Lanka in the quarter finals of the ICC Under-19s World Cup.

England had piled up big totals in each of their three group games, but lost two early wickets and were unable to recover against a Sri Lanka attack including six spinners.

They were all out for 184 in the 50th over and Sri Lanka cruised home with six wickets and almost 15 overs remaining to book a semi-final against India on Tuesday.

“We thought it was a pretty good wicket, and I guess 185 just isn’t enough really,” said Winchester-born Taylor, who had won the toss and chosen to bat first.

“All the guys agreed that batting first and getting runs on the board was the right thing to do. It didn’t do an awful lot. We just made errors really.

“It’s the way we lost our wickets, with some soft dismissals. We could have got up to 250 if we’d consolidated in that middle period.”

Asked about the lessons England would take away from the tournament, Taylor added: “It’s just a case of getting yourself in on these pitches. Get in, then you can go big.”

Taylor chipped in with a handy captain’s knock of 22 off 25 balls near the end, but England were dismissed when his Hampshire teammate Mason Crane fell to the second ball of the last over.

England needed early wickets but Avishka Fernando gave Sri Lanka a flying start. Leg-spinner Crane (5.4-0-35-1) bowled Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka while Taylor finished with figures of 5-0-24-0.

England will now play in the Super League Play-Off competition against the other losing quarter finalists.