The tourists narrowly avoided registering their lowest-ever ODI score, but avoiding that ignominy was no consolation as Sri Lanka stormed to their victory target of 89 inside 14 overs.

Sri Lanka's nagging attack sliced through England's batting order on a slow surface, and the tourists' dismissal for 88 was only two runs better than their record low against Australia at Old Trafford in 2001.

Only Paul Collingwood of the recognised batsmen, who was eighth out for 31, laid anchor - and perhaps just as surprising was that Muttiah Muralitharan, the hosts' most prolific bowler, struck only once.

In fact, England avoided the humiliation of an all-time low score only thanks to a last-wicket stand of 21 - the best of the innings - between Ashley Giles (who made 21) and James Anderson.

Debutant Andrew Strauss - the Middlesex captain replaced Vikram Solanki - was the first of a steady trickle of wickets.

After Michael Vaughan's bad luck with the coin changed and he won the toss, Strauss offered a return chance to be well held low down by seamer Dinusha Fernando, one of two Sri Lankan debutants.

Marcus Trescothick struck the first boundary of the day from the seventh delivery but three consecutive maidens after Strauss' departure increased the pressure, and it told in the seventh over.

Trescothick inside-edged past his leg-stump for four - the last boundary until Richard Johnson bludgeoned an Upul Chandana delivery 31 overs later.

Trescothick then fell next ball as an attempted loft over the top off Vaas' bowling failed to clear Nuwan Kulasekera, the other home fresher, at mid-on.

Fernando claimed the scalp of Vaughan as his second international victim soon afterwards, bowling the Yorkshire batsman via an inside-edge.

The slump set in when Andrew Flintoff drove uppishly to cover at a disguised slower ball from Vaas.

Rikki Clarke played around a straight delivery from medium-pacer Kulasekera, and Ian Blackwell flashed the same bowler to point to leave the tourists 44 for six.

After losing Chris Read to an edged a prod at leg-spinner Chandana - which Mahela Jayawardene clutched brilliantly just above the turf at first slip - Collingwood's gutsy 95-ball innings was curtailed when he scooped straight back to the bowler.

Johnson followed, to Murali, soon after smiting Chandana for a four.

It was left to Giles to take the team past the previous basement score by driving Jayasuriya's left-arm spin through the covers for a couple before Jayawardene's second stunning catch in the slips - again one-handed and at full stretch - off Vaas, completed the innings with 23 balls left unused.

Such had been England's capitulation that they had to return to the field within 10 minutes under competition rules and bowl five overs before the 6pm interval.

That was enough time for Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana to strike four boundaries - as many as England managed in their entire innings - as they finished the first session on 26 without loss.

While England took until the 29th over to bring up the half-century, their opponents needed only 52 deliveries.

Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana shared an unbroken stand to win by the widest of margins.

Jayasuriya flayed Rikki Clarke over cover for six and finished the match in the following over when he lofted Andrew Flintoff over the top twice in quick succession, taking two and three respectively to finish undefeated on 46.

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