England's alarming ODI slump continued as Harry Brook's side slid to a 19-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the series opener at Colombo.
England were 129-1 after 27 overs chasing 272 thanks to a stand of 117 between Ben Duckett (62 off 76 balls) and Joe Root (61 off 90), only to slump to 252 all out in 49.2, including a collapse of 5-35 as Duckett and Root's lbw exits were followed by and Jacob Bethell (15) being stumped and Sam Curran (5) caught and bowled, with all five out to spin.
Rehan Ahmed's enterprising 27 off 21 kept his team in the hunt but he was then pouched brilliantly at long-off by Dunith Wellalage, leaving England requiring 69 from the final five overs, and when Jos Buttler (19 off 20) and Liam Dawson (2) departed an over later the game was all but up, with Jamie Overton's late cameo coming in vain.
Overton (34 off 17) - who had conceded 23 runs from the final over of Sri Lanka's innings - pumped four fours and two sixes to cut England's ask to 20 from the last six balls but he then holed out off Pramod Madushan (3-39) two deliveries later.
England lost 11 of their 15 ODIs in 2025 and were swept 3-0 in New Zealand across October and November - - while this tour of the subcontinent kicked off just two weeks after the end of a chastening Ashes in Australia that they lost 4-1.
England - - will look to keep the series alive by winning Saturday's second game in Colombo (9am UK), ahead of the final fixture at the same venue next Tuesday.
Kusal Mendis' 93 not out from 117 balls underpinned Sri Lanka's 271-6, with Adil Rashid the pick of the England bowlers, bagging 3-44 to move on to 238 wickets in his ODI career, and fellow leg-spinner Ahmed (1-61), a late replacement in the XI for the ill Will Jacks, one of three bowlers to strike once, alongside Curran (1-40) and Dawson (1-31).
Duckett and Zak Crawley (6) took their Ashes opening partnership into the ODI arena with the latter picked for his first 50-over international since December 2023 - but the alliance lasted less than three overs with Crawley caught behind on the drive.
Duckett looked scratchy early on, fluffing a number of reverse sweeps and nearly dragging onto his stumps, with Root the more composed of the two initially as he drove and clipped boundaries and rotated strike efficiently.
Duckett settled, tonking a towering six as he passed fifty for the first time since an Ashes warm-up in November having maxed out with 42 in the Test series defeat to Australia, but when he and Root fell on the sweep in the 28th and 33rd overs respectively, Sri Lanka's belief rose.
Sri Lanka's spinners continued to apply the squeeze and were rewarded as Brook walked past a delivery from Charith Asalanka (1-33), Bethell did the same to Wellalage (2-41), and Wellalage then caught Curran (5) sharply off his own bowling.
Wellalage went on to produce a remarkable grab in the deep to cut off Ahmed's boundary-laden knock, snaffling the ball, hurling it back into the air before he fell over the rope and then catching it again as he returned to the field of play.
Minutes later, Buttler was cleaned up on the slog by Pramod and the same bowler had Dawson caught brilliantly by Dhananjaya de Silva at backward point.
At nine wickets down and with 59 needed from 24 balls England looked toast, but Overton gave Sri Lanka some jitters.
England went wicketless across the first 10.2 overs after being asked to bowl as Pathum Nissanka (21) and Kamil Mishara (27) put on exactly 50, only for that opening stand to be snapped when Nissanka hacked a Curran slower ball to mid-on.
Two wickets fell for four runs when Mishara was then bowled by Rashid after failing to connect with a sweep, while Sri Lanka were reduced to 124-4 halfway through the 27th over with Dhananjaya (10) and Asalanka (17) also out on the sweep.
Mendis found a strong ally in Janith Liyanage (46 off 53) with the pair stitching a fifth-wicket partnership of 88 from 98 balls, during which time Mendis clinched a 35th ODI half-century from 61 balls with four over Ahmed's head, one of his 11 boundaries.
Although Liyanage was unable to pass fifty, caught and bowled by Rashid after spooning a googly back to the spinner, and Pavan Rathnayake (12 off 14) was pouched in the deep off Dawson, Sri Lanka soared past 250 in Overton's expensive final over.
Wellalage (25no off 12) accounted for 20 of the 23 runs looted, cracking a six over deep cover and then hammering, sweeping and top-edging his way to three fours in a row as the home team's innings ended with a real flourish.
That was not to be Player of the Match Wellalage's only important contribution of the day.
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