By Callum Dent
Kumar Sangakkara bid farewell to Kandy by hitting a century on his home ground for the final time to help Sri Lanka beat England by 90 runs and take an unassailable 4-2 lead in the seven-match series.
The 37-year-old, set to retire from this format after next year’s World Cup, took advantage of a drop from Alastair Cook on 41 to hit 12 fours and a brace of sixes in a run-a-ball 112, his 20th ODI ton.
Man of the match Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan shared in a second-wicket stand of 153 to set the platform for the hosts to take 92 runs from the final 10 overs and post 292 for seven.
Needing to triumph to take the rubber into a decider, the tourists failed to recover from Sachithra Senanayake’s early double blow and the returning Suranga Lakmal’s two wickets in as many balls that reduced them to 84 for five.
Joe Root, an unbeaten centurion in Thursday’s victory, provided resistance with 55, adding 46 for the seventh wicket with Chris Woakes.
But the Yorkshireman’s dismissal to Lakmal, who took 4-30, signalled the end of England’s hopes as they were dismissed for 202 inside 42 overs.
Cook’s side had started impressively when Sri Lanka’s experiment of elevating Mahela Jayawardene to the top of the order failed, the batsman driving far too early and picking out mid-off from in-form Woakes’ 11th delivery.
Dilshan and Sangakkara, both struggling for timing early on, guided their side to 27 for one at the end of the powerplay before finding their fluency.
Sangakkara took two fours, either side of the wicket, from Chris Jordan’s opening over before using his footwork to counter spin, advancing down the track to hit Moeen Ali over mid-on in consecutive overs.
The left-hander was relieved to see Cook spill a simple chance at mid-off in Ravi Bopara’s first set of six.
After the century stand arrived, the pair both completed fifties, Sangakkara for the fifth consecutive match, by picking up leg-side fours in the same Bopara over, the 28th of the innings.
That triggered a three-over spell that saw Sri Lanka break the shackles, collecting 32 runs to set the platform for a commanding total.
They continued their attack from the 35th over, the start of the batting powerplay, with the promoted Seekkuge Prasanna hitting two sixes, off Steven Finn and Woakes, and a four.
Finn collected two wickets in as many overs, ending the fireworks from Prasanna, who was handed a life on eight following a mix-up between Jos Buttler and James Taylor at short fine-leg, before strangling Angelo Mathews down the leg side.
And shortly after moving to three figures, Sangakkara guided Jordan to Moeen at point, the ball after clubbing the paceman over long-on, and left the field to rapturous applause in the 45th over.
England’s bowlers struggled at the death as Thisara Perera and Dinesh Chandimal, bowled by a Jordan yorker with the final ball for 35, provided late impetus.
The tourists’ chase suffered a poor start as Cook, shuffling across his stumps, was trapped lbw by Senanayake with the third ball of the innings and Taylor was then bowled.
Moeen provided some much-needed intent with a quartet of fours and two maximums until Dilshan produced a jaffer that turned and bounced, flicking the glove on its way through to Sangakkara.
Root was living dangerously, edging Lakmal through the gap between wicketkeeper and first slip before surviving a huge lbw appeal against Prasanna.
But Lakmal had success in his third over by having Bopara and Eoin Morgan caught behind in consecutive deliveries.
Buttler on-drove the hat-trick ball to the boundary and steadily built a partnership with Root, only for a lack of communication leading to the former run out by a brilliant back-handed direct-hit from Lahiru Thirimanne at cover.
Root used a review to overturn a lbw decision but, after calling for the powerplay, lasted only two overs as he was bowled trying to scoop Lakmal.
Jordan followed, caught behind off Lakmal, Woakes’ fluent innings of 41 ended when he tamely chipped a return catch back to Dilshan and James Tredwell holed out off Senanayake.
3 - Kumar Sangakkara has recorded the third instance of a player hitting five scores of 50+ in a bilateral ODI series. Legend. @ICC#SLvENG
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) December 13, 2014
Match scorecard / Live ball-by-ball commentary
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Post-match reaction
England captain Alastair Cook was left to rue fielding errors that plagued the effort, saying: “For the first 20-odd overs I thought we bowled pretty well but it didn’t help me dropping Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) on 41, it was a real costly drop and they made us pay for it.
“We didn’t play well enough, we can have no complaints. Sri Lanka outplayed us in all aspects and that hurts.”
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews said: “It was a challenging wicket to bat on but I thought Sangakkara was amazing once again and together with Dilshan set the tone for the later batsmen to launch once again.”
Man of the match Kumar Sangakkara said: "It’s great to have grown up in Kandy and gone to school here, played school cricket here with a lot of my friends and to play one of the games in my last series in Sri Lanka here is a very special feeling.
“Thank you to my team, it’s extra special to finish off with a win so thank you everybody for coming today and for all your support and all your love.”
England innings
Local boy @KumarSanga2 leads the applause in an emotional farewell to his hometown crowd. #SLvENG pic.twitter.com/PCoetDDBcg
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) December 13, 2014
11.39am - SRI LANKA WIN BY 90 RUNS! - WICKET! Tredwell c Dilshan b Senanayake 19; Eng 202 all out, Finn 1 - James Tredwell is throwing his bat out there now, clubbing Senanayake for six. But he tries again next ball and is caught by Dilshan. Sri Lanka take a 4-2 unassailable lead into the final match of the series. Reaction to follow.
11.28am - WICKET! Woakes c&b Dilshan 41; Eng 193/9 - Woakes' impressive stay at the crease ends when he tamely provides Dilshan with a return catch.
11.12am - WICKET! Jordan c Sangakkara b Lakmal 4; Eng 175/8 - Chris Jordan edges Lakmal behind to Sangakkara.
11.04am - WICKET! Root b Lakmal 55; Eng 169/7 - Root tries to innovate but misses an attempted scoop shot and is bowled by Lakmal.
England call for the batting power play after 32 overs. 164-6 #SLvENG
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) December 13, 2014
10.50am - REVIEW! - Root is given out lbw to the returning Dilshan but uses a review to successfully overturn the decision. The ball pitched outside the line. Relief for Root. How big a decision will that be?
10.46am - Woakes looks in good nick with the bat, rocking onto the back foot to crash Jeevan over midwicket for four twice in the 31st over.
10.41am - FIFTY! Root (68b 4x4 0x6) - Root's fine form continues as he reaches a battling half-century. Can he go on and make a second successive ton?
10.34am - Chris Woakes punches Thisara Perera through extra-cover for four. Root sweeps Jeevan Mendis behind square on the leg side to move to 47.
10.22am - WICKET! Buttler run out (Thirimanne) 22; Eng 123/5 - Buttler dabs the ball into the off side and sets off a single that Root refuses, leading to the former to be run out by Lahiru Thirimanne's smart back-handed direct-hit from cover. Their stand was worth 39 in 7.1 overs.
10.13am - Root and Jos Buttler are rotating the strike nicely. The former comes down the pitch to meet a Prasanna full-toss head on and it races through the covers for four.
Hat trick ball gets punched down the ground for 4 by @josbuttler #SLvENG
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) December 13, 2014
9.49am - WICKET! Morgan c Sangakkara b Lakmal 0; Eng 84/5 - Lakmal is on a hat-trick! The paceman bowls a superb short ball that Eoin Morgan tickles behind to Sangakkara.
9.47am - WICKET! Bopara c Sangakkara b Lakmal 13; Eng 84/4 - Bopara slashes at a wide Lakmal delivery and Sangakkara dives to his right to hold on. The 37-year-old appears to have hurt his shoulder in taking the catch, which needed the third umpire to authorise it.
9.44am - Prasanna goes up for a huge lbw appeal against Root but the umpire is unmoved. Replays show the ball did hit the pad first before glove. Having used their review earlier, Root is off the hook.
9.36am - CHANCE! - Root, on 18, edges Lakmal through the gap between a diving Mahela Jayawardene at first slip and Sangakkara.
9.31am - Ravi Bopara crashes Sekkuge Prasanna, in his second over, over cover for four. Mathews calls for Suranga Lakmal, the first time he has used seam today.
2,773 - Kumar Sangakkara has scored 2,773 international runs in 2014, the second most in a calendar year after Ponting in 2005. Mirabilis.
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) December 13, 2014
9.26am - REVIEW! - Dilshan persuades skipper Angelo Mathews to review an unsuccessful lbw appeal against Joe Root, who swept the spinner for four three deliveries previous. The Yorkshireman remains at the crease after replays show the ball pitched outside the line.
9.17am - WICKET! Moeen c Sangakkara b Dilshan 34; Eng 50/3 - Moeen continues to attack, sweeping Dilshan for another boundary. But the spinner responds by producing a jaffer that turns, flicks the glove and Kumar Sangakkara takes a sharp catch behind the stumps.
9.06am - WICKET! Taylor b Senanayake 10; Eng 36/2 - The ball after lifting Senanayake over the top for a couple, Taylor plays for the spin and is bowled.
9.03am - Moeen Ali finds his range against the spinners. After lofting Senanayake over the covers, he clubs two sixes and another four off Dilshan.
8.52am - The in-form James Taylor rocks on to the back foot and chops Tillakaratne Dilshan behind point for the first boundary of the innings.
8.46am - WICKET! Cook lbw Senanayake 1; Eng 2/1 - Alastair Cook shuffles too far across his stumps and is pinned in front by Sachithra Senanayake's third ball.
Sri Lanka innings
8.12am - WICKET & END OF INNINGS! Chandimal b Jordan 35; SL 292/7 - Jeevan Mendis clubs a Jordan bouncer for four to start the over that finishes with a full delivery crashing into Chandimal's stumps. England need 293 to level the series.
8.05am - Chandimal collects boundaries off Jordan and Woakes, leaving Sri Lanka 283 for six with six balls remaining.
7.52am - WICKET! Thisara c Cook b Woakes 16; SL 262/6 - Thisara takes Woakes, into his ninth over, for consecutive boundaries before slashing the seamer to Cook at mid-off.
7.45am - Thisara Perera cuts Finn over the top of point to take Sri Lanka past 250.
7.38am - WICKET! Sangakkara c Moeen b Jordan 112; SL 243/5 - Fresh from sweeping Tredwell for four in the previous over, Sangakkara clears his front foot and clubs Jordan over long-on for six. However, he gives himself room and guides the paceman to a diving Moeen at cover next ball to depart for a brilliant 112. He raises his arms when walking off. Could this be the last time his home crowd see him in action?
7.31am - CENTURY! Sangakkara (104b 11x4 1x6) - Sangakkara takes a single into the off side to move to his 20th ODI ton and the first on his home ground.
7.25am - CHANCE! - Chandimal walks past a spinning Tredwell delivery but the ball cannons off the pad on the way through to Buttler, who cannot hold on to take off the bails. A really tough opportunity.
7.18am - REVIEW! - The third umpire is needed to see if Sangakkara has edged Finn behind. He didn't. It was a bump-ball. Sangakkara gets a thick inside edge that races away for four, his second of the over. He is five short of a century.
7.08am - WICKET! Mathews c Buttler b Finn 1; SL 191/4 - Angelo Mathews is strangled down the leg side by Finn and Buttler takes the catch.
6.59am - WICKET! Prasanna c Morgan b Finn 20; SL 186/3 - Prasanna punishes Buttler by flicking a maximum and then collecting a four in successive deliveries. However, his cameo ends when he scoops a Finn slower ball into the hands of Eoin Morgan at point.
6.57am - CHANCE! - Prasanna is playing his shots. He pulls a short Finn delivery in the air but Jos Buttler, running round to short fine-leg from his keeping position, cannot get his hands to a tough chance. Taylor probably would have been the better option to take that, he didn't have to move!
6.54am - Woakes is back on in the batting powerplay and Seekkuge Prasanna clubs a short ball over deep midwicket for six. The right-hander is then fortunate not to be out as another swing lands just short of Joe Root running in from the boundary.
6.45am - WICKET! Dilshan c Bopara b Tredwell 68; SL 161/2 - England finally have a breakthrough. Dilshan advances down the pitch and hits Tredwell to Bopara at long-on.
6.38am - Moeen concedes seven from his eighth over, the only boundary arriving when Dilshan reverse-sweeps behind deep cover.
6.30am - The boundaries are flowing for Sri Lanka now. Back-to-back fours for Sangakkara off Moeen, the first over mid-on followed by a cut behind backward point. England have conceded 32 runs from the last three overs.
Sangakkara's previous four innings: 67*, 63, 86, 91. Currently 62 not out. #class
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) December 13, 2014
6.24am - An expensive over from Jordan, who leaks 12. Sangakkara uses the face to find the vacant third-man rope before flicking the paceman over long-leg for the first maximum of the innings.
6.17am - FIFTY! Dilshan (80b 6x4 0x6) - Dilshan moves to his milestone three balls after Sangakkara, turning Bopara backward of square for a boundary, his sixth of the innings.
6.16am - FIFTY! Sangakkara (71b 6x0 0x6) - Sangakkara moves to his fifth consecutive half-century, his ninth in ODIs in 2014, by pulling Bopara wide of deep midwicket.
6.15am - CENTURY PARTNERSHIP! - It seems a long time ago since Woakes accounted for Jayawardene now. Dilshan tucks Tredwell into the leg side to take his second-wicket stand with Sangakkara into three figures, from 141 balls.
6.03am - CHANCE! - Sangakkara, on 41, is handed a life when Cook drops a simple chance at mid-off off Ravi Bopara, in his first over since replacing Moeen.
5.53am - The two Sri Lanka batsmen are starting to tuck into Moeen here. After Dilshan sweeps him for four, Sangakkara replicates his shot from the previous over.
5.46am - Sangakkara advances down the track and lifts Moeen over mid-on for four. A quality shot. That was the hosts' first boundary in five overs.
50 partnership between Dilshan and Sangakkara. Beginning to up the ante after a watchful start #SLvEng
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) December 13, 2014
5.26am - Sangakkara greets Chris Jordan into the attack by cutting his first ball for four and then flicking him off his legs for another four deliveries later.
5.20am - There is turn for Moeen. Dilshan cuts him behind square for four but, after the spinner delivers a no-ball above waist height, he finds a way through the right-hander's gate that Jos Buttler misses and races away for four byes. James Tredwell is on at the other end.
5.15am - As soon as the powerplay ends, with Sri Lanka struggling on 27 for one, the ball is thrown to Moeen Ali. Will there be turn for the off-spinner?
Excellent powerplay for England... #SLvENG Moeen Ali into the attack. pic.twitter.com/pGagt1mHun
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) December 13, 2014
5.10am - Dilshan is struggling with his timing against Finn, who is operating with great pace and bounce. England are on top here.
5am - REVIEW! - Finn hits Dilshan on the pads and persuades skipper Alastair Cook to review. However, the decision remains with the umpire and the right-hander continues as the ball was just skimming top of leg.
4.58am - Finn and Woakes are limiting Sri Lanka. They are 18 for one off six overs. Dilshan then breaks the shackles by slashing the former through the covers for a welcome boundary.
4.52am - New batsman Kumar Sangakkara is off the mark second ball, driving a Finn full-toss through the covers for four.
4.45am - WICKET! Jayawardene c Taylor b Woakes 5; SL 8/1 - The ball after Woakes strays onto leg and is flicked down to the vacant fine-leg rope, he draws Mahela Jayawardene into driving far too early and the batsman lobs a simple catch to James Taylor at mid-off. Sri Lanka's opening problems continue.
4.35am - Tillakaratne Dilshan edges the final ball of Steven Finn's first over just short of the slips. Wicket machine Chris Woakes opens from the other end.
Pre-play news
4.27am - The players are making their way to the middle. Mahela Jayawardene is opening the batting with Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Here come the teams! Who is following back in the UK? Up early? All nighter? #SLvEng
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) December 13, 2014
4.15am - Joe Root and Chris Woakes were the stars of England’s comfortable triumph in their last outing. They provided their views yesterday, with Root heaping praise on James Taylor and Woakes playing down the performances that have taken him to the top of the wicket-taking charts in this series.
4am - TOSS - Sri Lanka win the toss and opt to bat. England are unchanged. The hosts make three alterations, Suranga Lakmal, Chandimal and Prasanna replacing Ajantha, Kusal and Dhammika Prasad.
3.55am - Sri Lanka have reacted to Thursday’s defeat by dropping Kusal Perera, Ashan Priyanjan and Ajantha Mendis and replacing the trio with Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Seekkuge Prasanna. Spinner Rangana Herath will play no part due to a thigh problem.
3.50am - This is another must-win game for England as they attempt to level the seven-match series ahead of the final contest at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday.
Good morning from Pallekele for the 6th ODI of the series. Scorching sunshine as both teams warm up. #SLvENG pic.twitter.com/VmWtXvx4uw
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) December 13, 2014
3.45am - Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the sixth one-day international between Sri Lanka and England in Kandy. Well done if you have set your alarms and are joining me from the United Kingdom!