ICC World Cup: Sri Lanka beat England by 9 wickets

WellingtonKumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne struck fluent centuries to help Sri Lanka outplay a hapless England by 9 wickets in a pool A ODI match of the cricket World Cup here todayChasing 309 for a win at the Westpac Stadium Sri Lanka looked comfortable from the very start after a 100run opening partnership and then Thirimanne 139 not out and Sangakkara 117 not out managed an unbeaten 212run stand to help the islanders canter to their target in 472 oversSri Lanka batsmen Lahiru Thirimanne L and Kumar Sangakkara R chats during their partnership against England at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Group A match in Wellington AFP PHOTOThe duo combined well to make the James Andersonled bowling attack not only look ordinary but also put up a commanding batting display in their record secondwicket partnership against England in ODIsOpener Tillakaratne Dilshan 44 was the only casualty in an otherwise supreme batting show offspinner Moeen Ali being the beneficiary of the lone wicket to fallThe 25yearold Thirimanne who was dropped on 3 off Stuart Broad in the 4th over of the innings capitalised on the spill to become the youngest Sri Lankan to score a century in a World Cup His 143ball knock was studded with 13 fours and 2 sixes hit the winning sixSangakkara showed his class once again to register a chanceless 23rd ODI hundred his 86ball knock laced with 11 fours and 2 sixesSri Lanka though were guilty of dropping more than a couple of catches in the England innings but their effort with the bat put a curtain on all the shortcomingsEarlier electing to bat England rode on Joe Roots 121 to post 309 for six in 50 overs and a quickfire 19ball unbeaten 39 from Jos Buttler in the end raised English hopes of a good showingBut that was not to be as Sri Lanka looked unfazed after what looked an ordinary bowling effort to make the chase look simple and register their third win of the tournamentAfter losing their opener against New Zealand the Angelo Mathewsled side side has certainly done well to post three wins on a trot against Afghanistan Bangladesh and now EnglandThe Eoin Morganled side on its part is struggling with just a single win from four matches and that too has come against minnows ScotlandBatting first England were in a bit of trouble at 161 for four before a 98run partnership between Root whose 108ball stay was laced with 14 fours and 2 sixes and James Taylor 25 put the innings back on course to a big totalThe defiant stand which is a record 5th wicket partnership for England in World Cup matches came in just 11 overs as the Sri Lankan bowlers had little answer to the brisk runscoringIn the end though it was Buttlers cameo that really pushed the England total beyond the 300 plus mark England started off well with Ali 15 and Ian Bell 49 sticking it out in the first 9 oversFielding was a big let down by the islanders as Bell was dropped in the fourth over twice and later Root was also given a life when he was in single digitsMediumpacer Mathews 143 drew first flood after picking up Ali and offspinner Tilakaratne Dilshan 129 soon scalped Gary Ballance 6 with a caught and bowled effortBell hung around for a while only to see newball bowler Suranga Lakmal 171 deny the opener his fifty Morgan 49 also stuck around for sometime but Thisara Perera 155 got his prized wicket an over before the start of the powerplays in the 35th overAfter that it was a RootTaylor show as the duo combined the right dose of caution and aggression to not only see England out of trouble but also took the attack to the oppositionRoot who struck his 4th ODI ton in 52 matches was severe on Perera in the 45th over as he smashed a six and three fours after Taylors opening six to fetch 25 runs from six ballsTaylor got out to Lasith Malinga 163 after his 26ball cameo and Root was trapped LBW off leftarm spinner Rangana Herath 135 but only after the duo had done sufficient damageThe final five overs gave England 52 runs and the last over 22 as Buttler smashed 6 fours and a six to finish off with a flourish