Sri Lanka’s spinners turned the match on its head to register a hard-fought 19-run win over England in the opening ODI at Colombo.
Chasing 272, England were cruising at 129/1 before Sri Lanka applied the squeeze. Duckett and Root fell to ambitious sweeps, triggering a collapse as runs dried up sharply. Vandersay and Dhananjaya de Silva led the charge, backed by sharp fielding.
Earlier, Kusal Mendis anchored Sri Lanka’s innings with a composed 92, while Dunith Wellalage’s late cameo lifted the hosts to 271/6. England were bowled out for 252 in the final over.