England ease past Sri Lanka in 1st ODI

England beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the opening one-day international at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday to go 1-0 up in a three-match series.

Set a modest target of 186, the 50-over world champions finished on 189-5 with more than 15 overs to spare at the Riverside ground.

Test captain Joe Root, in his 150th ODI, was 79 not out.

Earlier, paceman Chris Woakes took a miserly 4-18 from his maximum 10 overs as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 185.

The series continues with a day/night match at the Oval in south London on Thursday.

Brief scores

Sri Lanka 185, 42.3 overs (K Perera 73, W Hasaranga 54; C Woakes 4-18, D Willey 3-44)

England 189-5, 34.5 overs (J Root 79 no; D Chameera 3-50)

Result: England won by five wickets

Player of the match: Chris Woakes (ENG)

Series: England lead three-match series 1-0