Sri Lanka cruised to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over England in their World Cup clash as they successfully chased down 310 thanks to centuries from Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara.
Thirimanne recorded his third one-day international ton as he powered to an unbeaten 139, while his efforts were matched by Sangakkara at the other end with an innings of 117 not out as the duo put on a partnership of 212 to secure the win.
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England set a competitive total in Wellington as a century from Joe Root guided Eoin Morgan's mento 309-6, aided by some impressive lower-order striking from Jos Buttler.
They almost got off to the perfect start as they attempted to defend their total, only for Root to drop Thirimanne at first slip off the bowling of Stuart Broad, although he was distracted by a late move from Buttler next to him.
The missed opportunity was to cost England dearly as Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan managed to find the boundary with ease as James Anderson, Steven Finn and Broad were guilty of dropping short in their length.
Sri Lanka brought up their 50 in the ninth over, and Thirimanne began to find further gaps to put the pressure on the England bowlers as he reached his half-century off 58 balls.
Dilshan and Thirmanne then passed the 100-run mark, but the former was to depart for 44 when he scooped the ball to Morgan off Moeen Ali for 44 to England a chance to get back into the game.
However, the window was quickly shut by Sangakkara as he found his rhythm with ease, and the run chase gathered pace with the veteran at the crease.
The 37-year-old blasted his way to his half-century off 45 balls as Sri Lanka passed the 200-run mark, using the power play to great effect as Broad and Chris Woakes came in for punishment as they bowled back of a length.
Thirimanne registered his century off 117 deliveries as he began to take a backseat to Sangakkara, who dismantled the England attack to shift his side over the 250-run mark in the 41st over, passing their 150-run partnership in the process.
The veteran notched his 100 off just 70 balls, bringing up his 23rd ODI century and arguably one of the best.
Sri Lanka secured the victory with 16 deliveries to spare as Thirimanne launched a six off the bowling of Woakes to seal the win by nine wickets, leaving England's hopes of reaching the last eight of the competition in peril.
Simon Sinclair
