Sri Lanka has cruised to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over England in their World Cup clash as they successfully chased down 310 in Wellington.

Lahiru Thirimanne hit an unbeaten 139 and Kumar Sangakkara 117 not out to seal victory with 16 balls to spare.

Earlier, Joe Root hit 121 as England accelerated late on to post 309-6.

Thirimanne and Sangakkara added an unbroken 212 as Sri Lanka claimed a third straight win to move to within two points of New Zealand at the top of Pool A.

This was only the second time in one-day internationals that a team has lost by nine wickets after passing 300 in the first innings.

Sangakkara's century, his second in succession and the joint fifth quickest in World Cups - off 70 balls - took him into third place in the list of all-time leading World Cup run scorers.