Tillakaratne Dilshan rallied the top order with an aggressive 88 off 98 balls in leading Sri Lanka to a formidable 317—6 against England in their opening one-day international on Wednesday.
Kusal Perera ended a 12-match run without a half-century in scoring 59, and added 120 for the opening wicket after Sri Lanka was sent into bat at R. Premadasa Stadium. Perera faced 74 balls and hit five boundaries and a six before being run out.
No. 3 Kumar Sangakkara was out lbw for 2 after being beaten by flight and turn from offspinner Moeen Ali.
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Mahela Jayawardene made a fluent 55 and rebuilt the innings with Dilshan with a 76-run third-wicket stand in 81 balls.
Dilshan was beaten by a slower ball from seamer Chris Woakes, and gave him a return catch. He hit 10 boundaries for his 40th half-century.
Offspinner James Tredwell took two wickets in successive balls to lift England late in the innings.
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Angelo Mathews who made 33 off 24 deliveries including three sixes and a boundary, hit Tredwell for two successive sixes in the 43rd over and was out attempting a third, caught by Ben Stokes on the long-on boundary.
Jayawardene tried to guide the next ball to fine leg, and wicketkeeper Jos Butler took a sharp catch to leave the hosts on 253-5 after 43 overs.
Then, Jeevan Mendis smacked 30 off 14 deliveries and Lahiru Thirimanne 27 off 22 balls and pushed the hosts to a challenging total. Mendis, playing his first one-dayer for Sri Lanka in 16 months, scored 21 off the 49th over bowled by Woakes.
Tredwell finished with 2-52 while Woakes had 2-68.