Tharanga and Malinga star in 20-run win

Sri Lanka 257 for 9 (Tharanga 120, Harmisom 3-51) beat England 237 for 9 (Trescothick 67, Dalrymple ) by 20 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Upul Tharanga was the mainstay for Sri Lanka with a career-best 120 © Getty Images

Sri Lanka took first blood in the one-day series with an impressive 20-run win at Lord's based on fine career-best performances from Upul Tharanga and Lasith Malinga, and backed up by sharp fielding. In contrast, England were ragged and it cost them despite the efforts of Paul Collingwood in the field and Marcus Trescothick and Jamie Dalrymple, who guided the run-chase with composed half-centuries.

When Sri Lanka were imposingly placed on 139 for 2 after 25 overs, a much larger chase than 258 was on the cards. But England still needed a solid start, not to mention an innings along the lines of Tharanga's career-best 120. It didn't happen as Dilhara Fernando made a fine return to the Sri Lankan side with three wickets in his first spell and Lasith Malinga - who bowled with real fire and accuracy - silenced the Lord's crowd by removing Kevin Pietersen.

Trescothick and Andrew Strauss were kept in their shells early and Trescothick was dropped, on 10, when Malinga spilt a tough caught-and-bowled chance before Strauss under-edged a pull off Fernando's first ball. Fernando was impressive, hitting 90mph on occasions while Malinga bowled an outstanding line and length - something England had spectacularly failed to do in the field when they conceded 23 wides. A second reward went Fernando's way when Bell dragged one back into his stumps, bringing Pietersen to the crease.

England were well behind Sri Lanka's 97 for 1 at the 15-over mark and the gap widened considerably when Mahela Jayawardene plucked a stunning catch out of thin air at midwicket. Pietersen had moved across his stumps to exploit the legside boundary, and was inches away from being successful, but Jayawardene had other ideas and timed his leap to perfection to hold a catch that had effectively sealed the match

A bad situation got worse when the one England player to be on top of their game in the field, Collingwood, failed with the bat. Four of England's crucial top five had gone inside 20 overs and Muttiah Muralitharan hadn't even been given a bowl. Trescothick, though, remained and appeared set for one of his classic one-day centuries. He received a second reprieve when Kumar Sangakkara missed a stumping chance on 53 and launched Sanath Jayasuriya for six as his stand with Dalrymple reached 72. But although Trescothick was finding the occasional boundary the required rate was still climbing. He tried another sweep but moved too far across against Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sri Lanka had one end open.

Lasith Malinga claimed the key wicket of Kevin Pietersen with the help of a great catch by Mahela Jayawardene © Getty Images

Dalrymple kept England breathing with an impressive first international half-century which is a rare positive they can take from this game. The clean striking shown for Middlesex was on display as was the sound temperament, but he'd been left with too much to do and not enough power in the lower-order to match an asking rate that grew steadily.

The major difference for Sri Lanka was that they had Tharanga in for the majority of their innings. He started off like a train, feasting on a diet of short, wide and full offerings from the inexperienced England attack. Wides abounded and Sajid Mahmood went for 22 in his opening two overs as the first five-over powerplay cost 49.

Strauss wasn't quite sure how to stem the scoring rate. He tried packing the offside, but Tharanga went through it, and the four main bowlers continued to spray the ball around. When a chance did come to remove Tharanga, Jones fluffed a stumping opportunity off Dalrymple with the batsman on 59. However, Collingwood is one of the few experienced players Strauss can turn to and his introduction slowed the innings down. He ended a fine stand of 99 between Tharanga and Jayawardene by varying his pace as he did in the Twenty20 on Thursday.

The middle order was then becalmed against the variations of Collingwood and an improved performance from the front-line seamers. Sangakkara was run out after a mix-up with Tharanga and Dilshan fell to the Durham combination of Harmison and Collingwood. With Tharanga slowing as he approached his century, Sri Lanka didn't make any huge strides from the 30th over. His century eventually came off 128 balls after his second fifty took 84 deliveries - a sign of the hold applied by England later in the innings.

But the improved performance only masked the major failings. The 42 extras was a record for England in ODIs and the wides alone were more than the result margin. After their Test match and Twenty20 success Sri Lanka are a confident, united team and this shone through, but England's one-day woes show no sign of abating.

Andrew Strauss c Sangakkara b Fernando 12 (31 for 1)
Bottom edge pull low to wicketkeeper

Ian Bell b Fernando 7 (44 for 2)
Dragged on a limp push with no footwork

Kevin Pietersen c Jayawardene b Malinga 10 (65 for 3)
Chipped to midwicket, stunning one-handed leap

Paul Collingwood lbw b Fernando 0 (66 for 4)
Nipped back, hitting top of stumps

Marcus Trescothick b Dilshan 67 (138 for 5)
Missed a sweep, nothing covering his stumps

Geraint Jones c Kapugedera b Jayasuriya 19 (172 for 6)
Pulled short ball to deep midwicket

Tim Bresnan b Malinga 16 (208 for 7)
Swung...missed

Jamie Dalrymple b Muralitharan 67 (214 for 8)
Flighted offbreak, turned as batsmen tried to sweep square

Sajid Mahmood b Malinga 8 (220 for 9)
Slower ball, wild heave, clipped top of stumps

Sanath Jayasuriya c Jones b Harmison 11 (25 for 1)
Short, wide, flashing cut

Mahela Jayawardene c Strauss b Collingwood 24 (125 for 2)
Lofted a slower ball to mid-off

Kumar Sangakkara run out (Collingwood) 15 (153 for 3)
Tharanga dropped ball to backward point, but didn't want the run

Tillakaratne Dilshan c Collingwood b Harmison 13 (187 for 4)
Cut hard to backward point, fine catch to his right

Russel Arnold c Jones b Collingwood 8 (204 for 5)
Thin edge to an attempted glide

Chamara Kapugedera c Pietersen b Plunkett 1 (207 for 6)
Top edge pull, well held by deep square-leg running around boundary

Chaminda Vaas c Strauss b Harmison 10 (227 for 7)
Pulled high to midwicket

Lasith Malinga b Bresnan 3 (236 for 8)
Wild swing

Upul Tharanga c Dalrymple b Mahmood 120 (248 for 9)
Slogged to midwicket