DURHAM: Chris Woakes scalped four while David Wiley picked three wickets before Joe Root smashed a classy fifty to help England register a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first ODI on Tuesday.
England first folded Sri Lanka for 185 and chased down the target inside 35 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Five wickets fell in the chase, but Jonny Bairstow's sparkling start and Root's class took England home.
Chasing 186, England got off to a flying start with the visitors scoring 54 in the first five overs. Sri Lanka did dismiss Liam Livingstone and Bairstow but Root played a gutsy 79-run knock to lead England's charge.
England had crumbled at 80/4 with Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings going back cheaply but Moeen Ali and Root stitched a 91-run stand to revive the visitors' innings. During the match, Joe Root also became the joint fourth-fastest batsmen to 6000 ODI runs.
Earlier, fifties from Kusal Perera and Wanindu Hasaranga had given Sri Lanka a decent platform to score big in the opening ODI. Perera also crossed the 3000 ODI runs mark in his 100th innings.
But Sri Lanka collapsed from 145/3 to 185/10 in 14 overs as Woakes picked four wickets.
Eight Sri Lanka players got out without touching double figures.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 185/10 (Kusal Perera 73, Hasaranga 54; Chris Woakes 4-18); England 189/5 (Joe Root 79*, Jonny Bairstow 43; Dushmantha Chameera 3-50)