Defending an achievable total of 232-9, Sri Lanka bowled England out to secure a win which boosts their semi-final hopes and dents the home side's chances of reaching the last four.

England collapsed from 127-4 to 186-9 thanks to a combination of an accurate bowling attack, led by Lasith Malinga, and poor shot selection from the batsmen.

Joe Root managed 57 before his departure and Ben Stokes revived English hopes with a measured yet explosive unbeaten of 82 but he was fast running out of partners and was unable to resurrect an innings which never got going.

Malinga was the star of the show with the ball for Sri Lanka as he took 4-43, including the wickets of all three of England's top order.

Dhananjaya de Silva also impressed as he finished with figures of 3-32.

Angelo Matthews was the lynchpin of the Sri Lankan innings as he hit an unbeaten 85, including five fours and a six, as his side set a tricky but attainable target in tough conditions.

Victory moved Sri Lanka into fifth place, two behind England, whose spot in the top four looks precarious with matches against Australia, India and New Zealand to come.

"It was a close one, we were under pressure but it was teamwork in the end – all the batters and bowlers did great work," said Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne.

"We thought this wicket looked like a 300 pitch but it was slower than we thought. 

"We knew we couldn't get 300, so wanted 250-275 until we lost some wickets but Angelo Mathews batted really well.

"With a score on the board, the bowlers knew what to do on this wicket.

"The Root wicket was the turning point. 

"We were not confident but thought we would go for the review and, thankfully for us, that was the turning point."